Suzuki Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will review its plans for expanding in Russia because the car market there may shrink more than 30 percent this year.
The company, which planned to build a ¥14 billion Russian plant, is reviewing the entire project and plans to announce a final decision in April, Shigeru Shoji, head of the carmaker's Russian unit, said in an interview in St. Petersburg.
The devaluation of the Russian ruble and falling disposable incomes have hurt demand for cars in Russia. Suzuki's sales in the country fell 36 percent in January from a year earlier, worse than the market's 33 percent overall decline.
"I would have thought that it could be more disastrous" in January, Shoji said, forecasting an even more severe drop in the second quarter.