Russia car sales plummet in 2009 

(MENAFN) A report issued by the Association of European Businesses (AEB) showed that sales of new cars in Russia have plummeted 49 percent from the previous year's record high to 1.46 million vehicles in 2009, AP reported.

According to the report, said car sales were expected to rise to some 1.5 million vehicles in 2010 as Russia emerges from the worst recession in a decade.

Separately, the ailing Russian auto giant AvtoVAZ said it planned to increase output by more than 50 percent in2010 to 446,000 vehicles in an apparent bid to compensate for a sharp decline in sales last year.

AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest carmaker, has been hard hit by the global economic crisis, with sales slumping due to depressed consumer demand.

According to AEB data, AvtoVAZ's sales dropped 44 percent year-on-year in 2009 to about 349,490 cars.