OREANDA-NEWS. Consequences of the EU sanctions against Russia and depreciation of the ruble will cause significant damage to the business of German automakers in Russia. It was stated by Director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR-Institute - CAR) of the University of Duisburg-Essen Ferdinand Dudenhёffer.

According to the CAR-Institute, only because of the decline in car sales, the losses of German companies in Russia may exceed 15 billion Euros up to 2017, says the "Prime" agency. "And it's probably a conservative estimate of the situation," - said Mr. Dudenhёffer.

According to him, the Russian car market was always considered as one of the most promising in Europe. "All German car manufacturers and many suppliers have invested in the Russian economy the considerable sums, expanded the production capacity and now for the last months have significant losses," - said the expert. Mr. Dudenhёffer comes from the fact that at the end of 2014 car sales in Russia will fall by 12.5% to 2,430,000 cars, and in 2015 - up to 2.2 million units.