Russia is, with a population of over 140 million, a large attractive market as measured by the number of potential consumers. With a nominal GDP per capita of 6.854 USD in 2006, growing at almost 7% annually, consumers are able to make investments on a constantly increasing scale. The automotive market is one of the most eye-catching sectors to reflect these positive trends.

The consumer potential together with increasing income makes Russia today one of the most attractive markets for the world automotive industry. Already by 2009, Russia is going to overtake Germany in terms of new cars sold, and most of the vehicles will be of foreign origin. 2006 became the first year in which Russians bought more foreign cars than those of domestic brands.

New car sales reached 1,8 million in 2006 – a huge increase from less than 1 million in 2002 – and will continue to grow at a rate of 21% until 2010. This rapid development is, apart from growing income, driven by a comparatively old Russian car market, better access to car loans, increasing local production of foreign cars and expanding dealership networks.

The market for components and spare parts is also growing fast, at a rate of 14% until 2010. Major growth will be in the sector of components and spare parts for foreign car brands, whereas the market for Russian brands will almost stagnate over the coming years. In 2008 and 2009 the primary (components) and secondary (spare parts) markets for foreign brands will overtake the same markets for Russian brands respectively.