Sales of new cars in Russia have fallen by 59 percent on an annual basis to 626,300 cars in 2022, the Interfax agency reported today, quoted by DPA.

This is the lowest number of cars sold in decades.

The data was provided by the Autostat consulting agency, which specializes in the Russian car market, Interfax said.

Since Russia pulled out of Western automakers' production following the Kremlin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, most cars sold on the Russian market are either Russian or Chinese models.

German automakers Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes had operations in the country, but closed their factories after the start of the war.

The Mercedes plant in the Moscow region was opened in 2019 in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin - Russian politician.

Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. Pres.

The Russian car market is far from its peak.

In 2008, almost 3 million vehicles were sold and it was then speculated that Russia would overtake Germany as the most important car market in Europe.

However, the international financial crisis and the sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea slowed car sales.

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Vladimir Putin