Almaty sells twice as many cars than Astana

Cars are in higher demand in Almaty than in other Kazakhstan cities. They are bought twice as frequently as in Astana, analyst of Kazakhstan Auto Business Association Kristina Smirnova told Tengrinews.kz. According to her, 5,559 cars were bought in Astana between January 1 and July 1 2012. Meanwhile, car dealers sold 9,487 vehicles in Almaty in the same period. Atyrau is the third in the list with 3,403 new cars sold. About the same number of vehicles was sold in Kostanai, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Shymkent and Aktobe: between 2,500 to 2,800. New cars are least popular in Taraz (82 vehicles) and Taldykorgan (40 vehicles). According to Smirnova, the total new cars sales made 39,592 in Kazakhstan. 17,564 cars were sold in the same period of 2011, which is twice less. Light vehicles are the most popular among Kazakhstan buyers. “C-class cars have been the leaders in the last six months. The second popular vehicles include offroaders and mini-cars are in the third place,” she said. The speaker also added that the most popular brands are Lada, Hyundai and ZAZ.