RusAutoNews.Com – The Association of European Businesses (AEB) Automotive Manufacturers Committee has declined to make a forecast on the Russian automobile market for 2018, due to the non-transparent operating conditions of car companies, as told by the head of the committee Joerg Schreiber to journalists.
“We had a prediction, a positive forecast, at the end of October. Then came the plans to increase the fees, which will have an enormous impact on the market. Without taking into account the increase in fees, we forecasted a growth of 5-10% for 2018, however, the circumstances have changed in due course. We can not make healthy predictions, due to the lack of clear clues. The forecasts will follow the definition of the circumstances by the government” – said Schreiber, commenting on government support programmes on Russian automobile market. “We have not experienced such a stable year before” – he specified.
“We notice the increase in the administrative burden imposed on market players. For instance, the significant increase in excise rates since January this year. Officially, the increase in utilisation fees is unclear. We are also subject to additional costs, in connection with the introduction of electronic TCP and expenditures due to additional tests conducted on vehicles within the framework of the ERA-GLONASS system” – he said.
“We are of the opinion that part of the programme is not very clear. Some features of the programme are published late and a number of our members believe that the conditions should be announced well in advance and the Russian automobile market players who want to or can participate in these programmes should be treated equally, in terms of provision of conditions”- Schreiber concluded.
As announced at the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee press conference in Moscow, Russian automobile market increased by 11,9% in 2017 in comparison with the same period of the previous year in Russia.
