Sales of new passenger cars, LCVs in Russia gain 27% in June to 118,000 units — AEB

Russian auto market posts strong June growth, first-half sales rise

MOSCOW — Russia's new vehicle market closed the first half of 2026 with solid gains, driven by passenger car demand, according to data released by industry bodies on July 3.

June sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) combined rose 27.5% year-on-year to 118,044 units, the Automobile Manufacturers’ Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) reported, citing data provided by PPC JSC (Passport Industrial Consulting, a joint venture of Autostat and Electronic Passport operator).

In the first six months, sales of new passenger cars and LCVs increased by 10% compared with the same period in 2025, totaling 600,844 units, the AEB said.

A separate set of figures from the Autostat analytical agency, also published July 3, put June passenger car sales at 116,276 units, up 29% from June 2025. Autostat said a total of 608,600 new passenger cars were sold in the first half of 2026, an increase of 14.8% from the same period in 2025.

The discrepancy between the two sets of first-half figures appears to reflect the different categories covered: the AEB data includes light commercial vehicles, while the Autostat figures cover passenger cars only.

According to Autostat, the top five brands in June were Lada with 28,100 vehicles, followed by Haval (16,100), Tenet (12,600), Geely (7,600), and Changan (5,600). The best-selling models were the Lada Granta (11,300), Haval Jolion (7,900), Tenet T7 (6,800), Lada Vesta (5,700), and Tenet T4L (3,700).

The Industry and Trade Ministry, which provided a broader view of the market, said total new vehicle sales — including passenger cars, LCVs, trucks, and buses — rose 12% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 to 679,800 vehicles. Passenger car sales in that period reached 610,300 units (+16%), LCV sales totaled 40,000 units (-18%), truck sales came to 24,600 units (-9.1%), and bus sales stood at 4,900 units (-0.3%).

The ministry also reported that the market for domestically produced vehicles expanded by 29.3% to 431,000 units in the first half, raising the share of Russian-made vehicles in the overall market to 63.4%, up by more than 8 percentage points from the same period last year.

In June alone, the ministry said total new vehicle sales reached 127,600 units, up 26.4% year-on-year. Passenger car sales in June were 115,800 units (+29.3%), LCV sales were 7,000 units (-2.4%), truck sales reached 4,100 units (+14.7%), and bus sales amounted to 797 units (+20.2%).

The ministry attributed the first-half growth primarily to the passenger car segment, noting that June volumes rose across nearly all major market segments compared with the previous month.

AEB committee chairman Alexey Kalitsev said the first half of 2026 was “more stable” compared with the significant market decline experienced in 2025, with the market demonstrating moderate growth. He cautioned that “the market situation remains unpredictable and sensitive to changes in the macroeconomic environment and regulatory policy,” and the committee maintained its full-year forecast of 1.4 million vehicles sold.