Russian car sales rise 18 percent for first nine months of 2010

Car sales in Russia rose 18 percent for the first nine months of 2010, to 1.32 million units, the Association of European Business (AEB) announced on Friday.

In September alone, the sales leaped by 55 percent to nearly 186,000 units, the RBC news agency reported.

The most popular model in Russia was still Lada manufactured by Russia's largest carmaker AvtoVAZ, due to the cash-for-clunkers program aimed at boosting domestic auto sales.

The AvtoVAZ plant sold over 50,000 of its flagship Lada model in September alone, and 367,800 units in total during the first nine months.

The Lada model meanwhile took up 28 percent of the entire car sales in Russia so far this year.

Among foreign-made cars, Korean KIA held the leading position with 77,700 units sold in the same period, which was 63 percent up year-on-year.

Various Chevrolet models' sales in Russia have also increased by 44 percent to surpass 10,000 units.

Eight of the ten models on the top of the sales list were Russian made, said the AEB.