Russia sales, February: Market bounces back with small increase

New-car sales in Russia rose 0.8 percent last month, regaining a run of growth that stalled in December and January, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said in a statement.

A total of 120,081 vehicles were sold in February.

"This seems to be a sign of continuous stabilization followed by a further recovery month," Thomas Staertzel, chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, said in the statement. "March will provide a more accurate picture with sales data from all the reporting brands."

Russia's top-selling brands had mixed results, with sales up at Lada while Kia, Hyundai and Toyota saw their volumes drop.

Lada's sales rose 13 percent. No. 2 Kia, dropped 3 percent, while third-ranked Hyundai fell 4 percent. Renault, at No. 4, had flat sales while fifth-ranked Toyota fell 7 percent.

Volkswagen brand's sales fell 8 percent.

Click here for Russia sales for February, 2 months

Notable winners among the bigger sellers included Mazda (+47 percent), Skoda (+35 percent), Audi (+5 percent) and Lexus (+2 percent).

Brands that lost ground in February included Mitsubishi (-41 percent), Nissan (-17 percent), Land Rover (-23 percent) and Volvo (-13 percent).

The AEB has said it does not expect significant changes in demand for the coming year and has forecast market growth of 2.1 percent to 1.63 million.

Through February, Russia sales were down 1.4 percent to 215,294.