The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade warned of difficulties for the car industry in 2025

The next year should be more productive for the Russian car industry than 2024, but the market will face difficulties. This forecast was made by the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov on December 25.

"External sanctions pressure continues to intensify, the industry needs to adjust to the rapidly changing macroeconomic climate. As I have already noted, by the end of this year we are noticing signs of a gradual slowdown in demand dynamics, the car loan market is shrinking, consumer activity is declining," Alikhanov said in an interview with TASS.

It is expected that next year the market will amount to about 1.58 million units, and production will amount to almost 1.1 million cars. Macroeconomic factors and solvent demand will influence the achievement of this target, said the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

At the end of 2024, the domestic car industry will overcome the bar of 950 thousand units, which is 13% higher than the expectations laid down in the strategy for the development of the industry, and 31% more than in 2023, said Alikhanov. According to the results of November, the market decreased by 27% compared to October, but the dynamics for 11 months is positive: about 1.69 million cars were sold, which is 44% more than in the same period last year.

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December 23, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said that the Russian car industry can be left no more than two or three large car plants, which will be characterized by competitiveness, profitability and high localization.

Before that, on November 27, it became known that the restart of the former Toyota plant in St. Petersburg will not take place in 2024, as previously announced. Information about the postponement was confirmed by the deputy head of the Committee on Industrial Policy, Innovation and Trade of St. Petersburg Alexei Yakovlev.