The AEB stated that there are no prerequisites for the rapid growth of the Russian car market

In the first half of 2026, the Russian car market showed moderate growth, but there are currently no prerequisites for a rapid large-scale market recovery. This was announced on June 3 by Alexey Kalitsev, Chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB).

"Regulatory measures, a high key rate, an increase in the VAT rate and currency fluctuations continue to be its significant constraints. Under these conditions, we see that the market is moving in a fairly tight range, maintaining steady growth relative to the previous year, but without signs of rapid acceleration in the foreseeable future," the AEB press service quoted Kalitsev as saying.

The expert noted that the situation in the Russian car market remains unpredictable and sensitive to changes in macroeconomics and regulatory policy. The Committee maintained its forecast for the market volume in 2026 at the level of 1.4 million cars sold.

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As the analytical agency Autostat reported earlier in the day, 116.3 thousand new passenger cars were sold in Russia by the end of June 2026, which is 29% more than in the same month of 2025. In total, 608.6 thousand new passenger cars were sold in Russia in the first half of 2026, which is 14.8% more than in the first six months of last year.