Great Wall sees 1.15-mln unit market for passenger cars and LCVs in Russia in 2023, more optimistic than AEB and Avtovaz forecasts
MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) - The Russian representative office of Chinese automaker Great Wall, Haval Motor Rus LLC, forecasts the market for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) in Russia at the end of 2023 could reach 1.13-1.15 million units, which exceeds previous estimates from the Association of European business (AEB) and Avtovaz, the main player in the domestic market.
The forecast was announced to journalists on Wednesday by Andrei Akifiev, executive director of Haval Motor Rus, following a press conference dedicated to the start of sales of the Ora 3 electric hatchback in Russia.
"There are different forecasts, but for this year we have a forecast which is somewhere between 1.13 to 1.15 million cars. We look at the statistics, and they are showing a certain slowdown now. But, the market really should end up somewhere around 1.13 million," Akifiev said, when clarifying that he means total combined sales in passenger car and LCV segments.
This assessment is somewhat more optimistic than earlier forecasts issued by the Association of European Businesses and AvtoVAZ, which is the domestic leader in units of budget model vehicles sold. At the beginning of September, AEB confirmed an annual forecast of 1 million cars, while the identical figure was announced by AvtoVAZ President Maxim Sokolov at the end of last month.
Akifiev said at a press conference on Wednesday that over the 9 months of 2023, GWM quadrupled sales in the Russian market, selling more than 84,500 vehicles from the three brands it has in Russia, Great Wall pickups, Haval crossovers and Tank SUVs. The lion's share (73,600 cars) came from the Haval brand, including 36,400 Haval Jolion vehicles, which were included at the end of last year in preferential car lending and leasing programs. Since 2019, Haval cars have been in full-cycle production at the Tula Automobile Plant (Haval Motor Manufacturing Rus LLC), the Chinese automaker's only Russian production facility. The company currently produces five models: the Jolion, F7, F7x, Dargo and the H9.
Akifiev told journalists that, of GWM's total unit sales on the Russian market, approximately 40% consists of imported cars, while the remaining 60% is vehicles assembled domestically in Tula.
"We expect that by the end of this year, about 20,000 electric cars will be sold in the Russian Federation. We are also making optimistic plans, and believe that in 2024 this figure could more than double. It is quite difficult to predict what will happen next. However, we believe our market is demonstrating demand that we would like to satisfy here," Akifiev said, without discussing the sales targets for the Ora 03 electric car model launched on Wednesday.
Analytical agency Autostat previously reported, citing data from its joint venture with operator EPTS, that the market for new passenger cars in Russia for the first 9 months of 2023 would total 717,300 units (+51%), while sales of new LCVs would reach 61,200 units (+11%).