You're reading: Sales of passenger cars in Ukraine 9% up in 5 months

Sales of new passenger cars in Ukraine in January-May 2012 grew by almost 9% year-over-year, the AUTO-Consulting information-analytical group has reported.

In May alone, almost 20,000 cars were sold, which was 3.5% up on the previous month and almost 20% up on May 2011.

As reported, in April 2012 a rise of 1% on March 2012 and a fall of 1% on April 2011 were registered.

According to the report, in May, Hyundai is still first, but its advantage over rivals is not so large.

"Zaporizhia’s ZAZ was in one step from the leading position thanks to the discount for most models," experts said.

Lada car sales in May grew, and in May a new model, the Granta, was supplied to dealer centers, although the Russian cars did not manage to retain the second position on the market and were third.

Kia dealers were boosting sales. They overcome a shortage of models, and Kia was fourth on the market.

Volkswagen shows stable growth, at fifth, and is followed by Toyota.

Skoda slightly reduced sales in May and was seventh, while Renault dealers could increase sales by 1.5%.

Nissan was ninth and Chevrolet was tenth.

Analysts said that in May French brands were competing well: sales of Peugeot and Citroen were almost equal. Buyer responded to new models from Citroen, which resulted in a 35% rise in the brand’s sales.

In the premium segment Mercedes-Benz was a leader in May, followed by BMW and Audi.

Last year’s favorite – Lexus – lost out not only to German cars, but also to Land Rover and Porsche, and it is on the verge of losing out to Volvo in sales.

Among Chinese brands, Geely was a leader in May with 43% growth, while Chery was second on the Chinese brand market.

"Great Wall was third several months in a row, with sales gradually rising. Sales of BYD and Lifan also grew, but Great Wall has more and more admirers," reads the report.