OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2009. New car sales plunged by a record 33% y-o-y in Russia in January 2009 which prompted experts to double forecast decline on the market in 2009. “This is the first time that we have started the year with losses rather than gains after a long period of stable growth in car sales in Russia”, says the press release of Association of European Business (AEB) which monitors the Russian automotive market. “Needless to say, a worldwide decline coupled with limited access to borrowings has impacted the Russian market”, AEB noted. January sales amounted to 116,899 cars of all trademarks, which is down 33% y-o-y and 44% m-o-m.