Russia’s monthly new car imports reach 12-year high

MOSCOW, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — About 112,000 new passenger vehicles were imported to Russia in October, a monthly record for the last 12 years, Russia’s analytical agency Autostat said on Thursday.
The previous record was set in August 2012, with around 120,000 new imported cars.
Agency experts noted that auto imports have consistently increased each month since May, setting new records since August.
The main driver of the import increase is the rise in the recycling fee, which took effect on Oct. 1 following an announcement earlier in the summer.
According to Autostat, a total of 795,000 new passenger cars were imported to Russia in the first 10 months of this year, a 45.4-percent increase over the same period last year. ■