MOSCOW, August 27. /ITAR-TASS/. France’s Citroen, Germany’s Volkswagen and Japan’s Nissan have forecast a 14-18% decrease in the Russian car market in 2014, according to information provided by executives of the three companies at a motor show on Wednesday.

Citroen expects sales on the Russian market of cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) to fall by 14% to 2.4 million units in 2014, while Volkswagen forecasts a 17-18% drop to 2.1 million units, according Citroen Russia’s Director Jean-Louis Chamla and Volkswagen Group Rus’ Director Marcus Ozegovich.

Ozegovich attributed his forecast to geopolitical troubles and weakening ruble. The Russian car market will restore capacities in the future, but geopolitical risks do not allow to say when it may happen, he said.

Nissan also expects Russia’s car and LCV market to drop 14% to 2.4 million-2.5 million units, but the exact period of the forecast runs between April 1 and March 31, 2015, Philippe Saillard, executive director of Nissan East (Russia, Ukraine), said. Nissan plans its share of the local market to reach 6% in this period due to the launch of new models, he said. In January-June, Nissan produced 42,380 vehicles in Russia and sold 82,384 units, a 29% increase.

Citroen car sales in Russia may fall to around 20,000 units in 2014 from around 30,000 units in 2013, Chamla said. Volkswagen plans to outperform the market this year, Ozegovich said, declining to provide any figures.

In 2013, Russia’s car market amounted to 2.55 million units, Ozegovich said.