In case you have yet to notice, the Russian Federation is dealing with a very big issue at this moment. The currency used in the country, known as Ruble, has dropped significantly in terms of value. Even though it may sound quite unbelievable, the value of Russian Rubles has dropped by at least 40% ever since June 2014. This is the lowest Ruble value ever within these sixteen years. This is quite ironic, taking into consideration how Russia is one of the most powerful countries in the European continent.
Following the drop of Ruble value, the people of Russia is trying to invest their money in something that may well retain its value in the upcoming future. With that being said, there are not few of the Russians in the country who decide to spend their money on a new car. As a matter of fact, this has been happening all over Russia for the past few weeks.
Well, at first, this helped automakers benefit from the significant increase in the sales of their vehicles. However, in the long run, this actually kind of slaps the automakers in the face due to the low value of Rubles. In spite of Ruble’s value drop, car dealerships have yet to make adjustments to their price list to adapt to the financial crisis. As a result, the sales money they acquire is less valuable at this moment. Obviously, automakers are suffering from losses more than they are gaining profits.
Taking everything into account, a number of automakers that do business in the Russian Federation have decided to cease sales. Audi is one of the automakers affected by this issue. The luxury German brand has decided to cease its vehicle sales since last Tuesday. The company points out that it is not going to reopen the order book for its vehicle lineups before it finishes working on a new price list that will have been adjusted to the significantly lower Ruble’s value.
In addition to Audi, the US-based General Motors has also announced that it is halting all sales in the country. Unfortunately for fans of the brand, the company mentions that it is halting sales up to an indefinite time period.
Last but not least, there is Jaguar Land Rover. The company has also made it clear to the media that it has been halting sales of its vehicles. However, this British automaker is going to reopen its sales tomorrow.
