AvtoVAZ called the market situation the worst in the last 20 years

The year started worse than predicted at AvtoVAZ. This was announced on February 26 by Dmitry Kostromin, the company's sales and marketing director, Interfax reports.

"In my opinion, this is probably the worst January-February in the last 20 years of statistics. If we also slightly correct the market calculation methodology and take into account exactly the new cars that are actually sold and registered, the market is actually even worse," Kostromin said at the ForAuto 2026 forum.

As a positive moment in the market, he noted the lack of warehouse pressure, whereas in previous years the problem of overstocking was acute. According to Dmitry Kostromin, the market can repeat the results of 2025. He allowed the market to recover in the second half of the year and noted the need for "creative ideas."

Earlier, AvtoVAZ announced that in total for 2026 1.5 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles can be sold in Russia, which will exceed the result of 2025 by 7%. Lada's sales plan for this year is 370,000 units (+9%).

Waiting for the "window": AvtoVAZ shares plans for 2026

Lada to launch crossover, van and sports car on the market

On February 19, Sergey Tselikov, director of the Autostat analytical agency, said that new cars in Russia turned out to be more expensive than in Germany, South Korea, Japan and other countries. Canada ranks first in this ranking, with an average new car price of $62,000. Next are the United Kingdom ($61,000), the United States ($52,000) and Israel ($50,000), while Russia is in fifth place ($45,000).

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.