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OREANDA-NEWS. Russian car market in 2015 could be reduced by 20-30%, said the head of Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn.

"Today we are the largest automaker in Russia - alliance of Renault-Nissan-AvtoVAZ occupies more than 30% of the market. Obviously, the reduction of the Russian market impacted on us. In the last year the market fell by 11%, this year it will decrease, most likely, by 20-30% - in January the drop was 25% and it will continue. Therefore, we present our plans in line with the situation - we reduce production rates, reducing stocks of finished products, adjust the pricing due to the devaluation of the ruble”, - "Finmarket" agency cited the words of Carlos Ghosn.

According to him, it is short-term adjustments that permit to protect by maximum the business of alliance. "As a long-term policy - I do not think that it's all over for us, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. - Alliance, he said, will take advantage of "the opportunity" to localize more the production of its cars in Russia. "Here we have the advantage, as we have in Russia enough production capacity. Under these conditions, we can even increase our market share, because today the automakers with the highest level of localization in Russia are in a better position because of the weak ruble”, - said the head of the alliance. 

"So for us it's just a little storm: the adjustment of short-term activities and preparation for market recovery. When this recovery will come - I do not know and I do not think that someone knows it. It depends on factors over which we have no control: Ukrainian crisis, oil prices - a lot of factors and conditions. But we know that when the recovery begins, we must be prepared for it to reach our goal of 40% of the market”, - he said.

Therewith, Carlos Ghosn believes that the market decline together with the modernization of production lead to the fact that the alliance loses from participation at AvtoVAZ. "I think that AvtoVAZ is losing money now mainly due to the reduction of the market. When your core market is reduced first by 11%, and now by 20-25%, then it is difficult to earn for any producer - especially if it coincides with the restructuring of the company”, - he said, by noting that the work on updating of the model range, the creation of new platforms, improve quality, and the fact that the plant in Togliatti becomes more flexible platform, "will lead eventually to the fact that when the market starts to recover, we will have a benefit from participation in AvtoVAZ. "But this profit should not be one-off - it must be constant”, - said a top manager.

In addition, the head of Renault-Nissan believes that in 2015 the global car market could increase by 2% compared to 3.5% of the last year. He noted that the growth of the Asian market will help to make softer the sharp drop in car sales in Russia.