For the first time since the 1970s, the best-selling car in Russia during any month is not a Lada. The No.1-selling car in the country last month was the Kia Rio, which outsold the Lada Granta 10,834 to 10,520, giving the Korean automaker the top-selling car in Russia for November.
AvtoVAZ, the Russian carmaker that owns the Lada brand, said this happened because of supplier problems and not declining demand. “In November we had some problems with several suppliers. We had to stop the production on the Granta/Kalina line for a couple of days. Less production means fewer sales, logically,” an AvtoVAZ spokesman told AutoNews Europe, adding that the supplier problems have been resolved.
Despite losing the title of the best-selling car in November, Lada’s overall dominance of the Russian market is not in danger. Lada sold 351,992 vehicles in the first 11 months of this year, while second-placed Kia sold 175,491 cars.
The Lada Granta’s No.1 position overall in 2014 is also safe, with 139,405 Grantas sold after 11 months, ahead of the No. 2-ranked Hyundai Solaris (105,142) and the third-placed Rio (84,350).
The Kia Solaris and Rio are built in St. Petersburg, while the Granta is made in Togliatti, a town located about 1,000 km (621 miles) southeast of Moscow. The plant also builds models for Renault, Nissan and Datsun, as Renault and Nissan took control of Lada parent company AvtoVAZ earlier this year.
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