Â
Autostat.- Car dealer numbers have been shrinking in Russia in recent years. According to Autostat, as of January 2021, there are 3,210 official dealers in the country, carrying out sales and services of automobiles. There were 3,370 dealers in Russia at the same time last year.Â
Thus, over the year, there are 160 centres less in the country, which is equivalent to a 5% decline. The decrease reflects the difference between the termination of 513 contracts, as opposed to 353 new signatures.Â
As emphasised by experts, the closure of the GM-Avtovaz dealer network with 122 centres has become the main factor behind the shrinkage, as the Niva SUV has been on the market under the brand name of Lada since the summer. In addition, the official sales of Smart automobiles have ended in Russia, converting all the dealer network of the brand to service centres (-18). The same can be said about Hawtai (-38) and Ravon (-31). Lifan has lost 35 centres, along with Datsun 23, Zotye 22 and Ford 11, on the other hand.Â
In the meantime, a few manufacturers have expanded their car dealer networks. For example, the official distributor of Chevrolet automobiles in mass segment Keles Rus has signed dealer contracts with 35 companies. Dealer network expansion was observed in Chinese brands especially: Changan (+34), Chery (+34), Geely (+20), FAW (+18) and Haval (+18).
