In 2010, passenger vehicle sales in Russia are expected to go up 15 percent to 1.6 million cars. The new forecast was prepared by Stanley Root, a partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. According to the less-likely pessimistic scenario, sales of automobiles may decrease by 5 percent to only 1.3 million.

In 2009, the Russian car market fell by 56 percent to 1.4 million new and pre-owned vehicles sold. In dollar figures, the market went down 61 percent to USD 26.8 billion. Domestic manufacturers of foreign brands did not experience as sharp of a decrease. Following the increase of import tariffs on used foreign cars, the importation of pre-owned vehicles of foreign origin dropped dramatically by 97 percent. Only 12 000 used cars were imported into Russia from abroad.      

The sale of cars that were assembled in Russia went up. Russian-made cars had a 53-percent share of the market in 2009, compared to 40 percent in 2008.

Purchases of cars made in the Central Federal District of Russia, which includes the city of Moscow, accounted for 50 percent of the cars sold last year.

The full recovery of the Russian car market after the recession will take time. According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the market could return to its 2008 level in 5 years.