AvtoVAZ Raises Prices 1.5 Percent
AvtoVAZ will announce its third price hike of the year today. Price will rise an average of 1.5 percent. The price of the 4-wheel-drive Niva will rise the most. The 240,000-ruble recreational vehicle will go up by 5000 rubles. All other models will be 3000 rubles more expensive.
The price rise was necessitated by inflation, since employee wages are indexed to the inflation rate, and by rising metal prices. The price of steel has already risen 35 percent this quarter and is expected to continue rising. The company raised prices by an average of 1 percent at the beginning of May for the same reasons. Then too the Niva’s price rose most sharply, by 10,000 rubles.
Analysts say the move will not hurt sales of the company’s cars. Sales of its Lada were up 30 percent in April (67,000 vehicles) and they were expected to rise another 20 percent in May (65,000 vehicles). The Niva also remains popular. It remains the most affordable model in its class in Russia.
The new higher-priced models will begin coming off assembly lines in July and will reached showroom floors in August, after the high season for car sales (which ends in June).
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 02, 2008
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Photo: Artem Pigarev
