Russia’s AvtoVAZ: Lada sales up 20.1% year-on-year in September

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s AvtoVAZ recorded a 20.1% jump in sales of its flagship Lada cars in September compared to the same month last year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Russia’s automobile industry has been hit hard by Western sanctions this year, with many factories suspending production for weeks as they scrambled to source new parts and re-establish supply chains, or adjust the specifications of their models.

But at the same time, many Western carmakers have stopped manufacturing or selling vehicles in Russia, in response to Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.

The company said it had sold a total of 20,641 Lada vehicles in September, up 14.1% from August.

AvtoVAZ President Maxim Sokolov said the company was doing “everything possible” to continue production in an “uninterrupted mode”.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)