OREANDA-NEWS Sales of new cars continue to fall in Lithuania. This trend began in the middle of last year and since then it has not been possible to reverse the situation — negative dynamics has been observed for the tenth month in a row. In January 2022, this drop was minimal (-0.7%), February showed a much larger decrease (-18.2%). March reduced the market by another quarter (-24.5%), but April brought the biggest drop since the beginning of the year (-34.7%).

During the month, 2,620 new passenger and light commercial vehicles were registered in the country. For comparison, a year ago there were 4,013. Such preliminary data was reported by the AutoTyrimai portal, with reference to information provided by the state enterprise Regitra. The main reasons for the fall remained the same: the shortage of microchips, harnesses and some other automotive components led to a significant reduction in the production of most models, and consequently to a decrease in supplies.

At the same time, the passenger car market in April decreased by 34.7% to 2,359 units, and light commercial vehicles — by 35.1% to 261 copies. In the brand rating on the market of new passenger cars, the leader remained the same as in March – Japanese Toyota with a result of 565 units. On the second and third lines – also unchanged. The second place is occupied by Volkswagen (360 pcs.), the third is Kia (195 pcs.).

BMW continued to lead in the premium segment with 194 copies sold. In the model rating, the representative of the SUV segment — Toyota RAV4, sold in the amount of 169 units, remained in the first place. Toyota Corolla (121 units) and Kia Sportage (109 units) also entered the top three at the end of April.

Renault Master is the leader in the segment of light commercial vehicles with a result of 60 cars. Experts note that interest in new electric vehicles continues to grow in the country. In April, Lithuanian residents purchased 95 electric cars (EV), which is 10.5% more than a year ago. According to the results of the month, the most popular electric model among the residents of Lithuania is the budget Dacia Spring, purchased in the amount of 14 copies. In general, 9,888 new passenger cars were registered in the country in the 1st quarter of 2022. This is 21.7% less than in January-April last year (12,636 units).