Luxury cars to pamper the inner oligarch caught the eye when the Moscow motor show opened last week, but it is the Russian of more modest means who has the attention of the world's carmakers, keen to profit from one of Europe's few growing markets.
Bullish forecasts were the order of the day at the Moscow International Automobile Salon, with Volkswagen forecasting 30 per cent sales growth in Russia this year and announcing one billion euros ($1.3 billion Cdn) in new investments.
General Motors will also spend $1 billion over the next five years to ramp up output in Russia, and Renault sees Russia challenging Brazil to become its No. 2 market.
"The situation is very different from Europe and the U.S., because you have a lot of people that have very old cars - or no car - [who] are entering the market for new cars," Renault's regional head Bruno Ancelin said.
"It is a tank of potential customers that is still full, and we have years and years in front of us to address this kind of customer."
Organizers expected more than a million people to visit the annual show, which opened to the public on Friday. The show features 24 world premieres of new models, the first showing in Europe of 21 models and 86 Russian rollouts.
Speed freaks will get a chance to ogle a Maserati GranCabrio Sport, with a top speed of 285 km/h and a local sticker price of 210,000 euros ($264,000) in the Russian market. More than 40 Maseratis - controlled by Fiat - have been sold in Russia so far this year, a representative said.
But although Russia remains a tempting market for manufacturers of machines for conspicuous indulgence, automotive depression in western Europe and the steady, oil-fuelled growth of the Russian economy have made the continent's second-biggest car market an object of urgent desire for those offering more everyday rides. These range from the sub$10,000 compacts that Renault and Nissan are pushing out under the rejuvenated, Soviet-era Lada brand of their Russian unit AvtoVaz, to well-appointed, mid-range sedans and passenger vans aimed at the burgeoning middle class.
