Russian car industry ‘survived’ 2020 despite pandemic

MOSCOW: Russia saw new car sales decrease by 9.1 percent in 2020 on the previous year, as the industry was battered by the coronavirus pandemic, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said.

The AEB, a Moscow-based representative body of foreign investors, said in an online press conference that Russians purchased around 1.6 million new vehicles last year compared to some 1.76 million in 2019.

“These are still good results considering the difficulties of the year. The industry has survived,” said Thomas Staerzel, chairman of the group’s automobile manufacturers committee.