Ukraine’s auto production drops again in January after 2 months of growth
KYIV, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) — Ukraine’s vehicle production plunged 17percent year-on-year in January, marking the first month of declinesince October 2015, official data showed Monday.
Last month, Ukrainian carmakers produced only 293 vehiclescompared with 1,852 units in the month before and 1,167 vehicles inNovember 2015, according to a report, published by the UkravtopromAnalysis Group.
Only one-third of automotive plants functioning in Ukraine havemanufactured vehicles in January, the report said.
According to it, the country’s commercial vehicle productionfell by 41.3 percent in January from the same month a year beforeto 64 units and that of buses dropped by 73.7 percent to 5 units.In the same time, the passenger car output remained unchanged at224 units.
Ukraine’s vehicles production has been declining since 2012 as aresult of economic slowdown, poor consumer purchasing power andcurtailing loan programs for car purchases.
In December 2015, the auto production had increased three-foldfrom the same month a year earlier after surging 95.5 percent inNovember, raising the hopes that the industry started recoveringfrom the crisis.
Last year, Ukraine’s automotive industry dropped 71.3 percentyear-on-year to 8,244 vehicles. Enditem