Kazakhstan reports record high car sales

According to the Association of Kazakhstan Auto Business (AKAB), in June 2023, Kazakhstani car dealers sold 15,900 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, as well as 943 trucks and buses. This is a 41.2% increase over June last year.

Over the first six months of the year, there were 83,200 new cars sold, which is 1.6 times more than a year earlier. Over the period from January to June 2023, car sales in Kazakhstan were similar to sales in the period from 2013 to 2014, experts from AKAB said.

The association is now forecasting that at least 150,000 vehicles will be sold this year compared to 123,800 vehicles in 2022.

In June, Hyundai retained its leadership in sales with 4,200 cars sold (a 1.7 times increase compared to June last year). Dealers of Chevrolet sold 4,000 vehicles (-1.5%). The third brand with the biggest sales is Kia with 2,500 cars sold (an increase of 1.9 times). The Chinese brand Chery reported 890 cars sold (an increase of 2.9 times). Jac, another brand from China, managed to sell 808 cars in June (an increase of 2.6 times) and has taken fifth place.

Chevrolet has been the leader in sales since the very beginning of this year (21,700 vehicles, an increase of 1.7 times), while Hyundai is breathing down its neck with 21,644 cars sold.

Chevrolet Cobalt was the most popular model (1,900 units sold) in the market in June. The newcomer Chevrolet Onix immediately took second place with 1,400 units sold instead of Hyundai Tucson (1,300), which is now in third place.

There are two key passenger car assembling plants in Kazakhstan SaryarkaAvtoProm in Kostanay (part of Allur Group) and Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan in Almaty (part of Astana Motors). Commercial vehicles are produced by SemAZ and Hyundai Trans Auto, trucks are assembled by KAMAZ Engineering, while QazTehna and Daewoo Bus Kazakhstan assemble buses.

Astana Motors is planning to complete the construction of a multi-brand CDK plant in Almaty for the Chinese brands Chery, Changan and Haval (part of the Great Wall company). The design capacity of the plant is 90,000 vehicles per year. Its production launch is expected within the first quarter of 2025. Allur is also preparing the construction of a new assembly plant for KIA. The Orbis Group and the Chinese EXEED are going to launch the construction of a new assembling plant in Almaty this year. The plant is expected to start its operation in 2025 with a capacity of 80,000 cars per year.

According to Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Marat Karabayev, the government hopes that the country will be able to produce about 500,000 cars per year by 2026. Allur estimates show that the country will produce 175,000 cars in 2025 if there are no external shocks.