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Nissan Outsells Competitors in Moscow's Shrinking Car Market

Cutline - With models like the Juke-R, Nissan has leapfrogged other producers on the Moscow car market.

Japanese automaker Nissan sold more new cars in Moscow in the first four months of 2014 than any other company, according to statistics provided by the Auto Business Review website.

In an overall market that fell by 0.3 percent, Nissan sold 17,400 cars between January and April, 23 percent more than the same period last year.

Asian car makers generally fared well in the Moscow automobile market, with Korean manufacturer Hyundai coming second with 17,356 sales and Kia in third with 17,263. Neither of these companies rivaled Nissan's growth, however — Hyundai saw sales increase 4 percent year-on-year, while Kia's sales fell 3.5 percent.

Germany's Volkswagen was the capital's fourth most popular brand, shifting 15,062 cars over the period, 4.4 percent less than in the first four months of 2013.

Russia's No.1 carmaker AvtoVAZ — which is mired in financial troubles and posted losses of $222 million last year — saw sales of its flagship brand Lada tumble 19 percent to 11,522, leaving its market share in Moscow on an underwhelming 5 percent.

France's Renault saw its sales fall 16 percent year-on-year to 13,502 units. U.S. carmaker Ford suffered a 20 percent decline, selling 9,577 cars.

In total, 225,700 new cars rolled out of dealership forecourts in Moscow, 0.3 percent less than in the first four months of 2013.

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