Foreign car sales in Russia up 50 pct in Sept

[Newbiewar 1]

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Sales of foreign car brands in

Russia rose by 50 percent in September to 132,076 units, figures

compiled by the Association of European Businesses in the

Russian Federation (AEB) showed on Monday. The figures, provided by the AEB Automobile Manufacturers

Committee, include production of foreign branded vehicles in

Russia. The data showed that foreign car sales in the first nine

months of 2007 amounted to 1,137,238 units, an increase of 63

percent from the same period of 2006. Following are sales for the top-10 foreign car brands in

Russia in September and the first nine months of the year:

BRAND 9M 07 9M 06 pct Sept 07 Sept 06 pct

Chevrolet (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 131,653 77,334 70 16,689 11,212 49

(including GM-AVTOVAZ JV)

Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 120,410 68,243 76 14,552 11,270 29

Toyota (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) 110,484 68,133 62 10,981 9,953 10

Nissan (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) 81,832 50,536 62 9,395 6,405 47

Hyundai* (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) 80,477 69,204 - n/a n/a n/a

Renault (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) 71,351 48,818 46 8,763 6,349 38

Mitsubishi (7211.T: Quote, Profile, Research) 69,920 51,706 35 13,363 5,935 125

Daewoo (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 66,941 50,709 32 7,644 6,846 12

Kia (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) 56,636 44,080 28 7,754 5,387 44

Opel (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 45,027 12,183 270 5,207 1,673 211

Total** 1,137,238 699,474 63 132,076 88,282 50

Source: AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee.

NOTE: * Figure for Hyundai sales in nine months excludes sales

in September 2007. ** Without Hyundai sales in September 2007.

[Newbiewar 1]

looks like gm's got 243,621 sales in Russia so far this year vrs 140,226 looks like a total of 73% up from last year

vrs toyota's 110,484 this year and 68,133 last year, a total 62 % up... (62% is lower then 63, the average growth in the country)

... i can still hear it ringing

I'm afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with terrible resolve