Sales of new cars in Russia grew 20% in April to 163,200 vehicles from October 2008, marking the first increase in sales since the world financial crisis hit Russia, the Association of European Businesses reported on Wednesday.
Experts say that the growth can be attributed to the Russian version of the popular U.S. "Cash for Clunkers" program launched by the Russian government in early March as part of efforts to boost car sales, which fell by 49% in 2009.
The program offers motorists 50,000 rubles ($1,680) for recycling old vehicles and purchasing new ones. It aims to promote the recycling of as many as 200,000 vehicles by the end of the year.
The association also said, however, that sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in the January-April 2010 period as a whole dropped 13% to 456,100 vehicles compared to the same period in 2009.
MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti)
