AEB data shows that registrations last month were 115,390 cars, according to the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee (AEB AMC), down by 37,272 units.

All top ten bestselling models of passenger cars are produced in Russia.

Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, commented: ‘If December was a big party for many market participants, then January is the equivalent to a bad hangover. The peculiarity of the current situation is that 2014 model year stocks at lower prices are practically sold out, much earlier than usual. At the same time, responding to currency movements, prices for the new model year have increased, much more than usual. The price transformation of the market is something still in process, so the headache will rather get worse before going away eventually.’