Foreign brands invade Russian event

Moscow, Russia — The ride from the airport to the hotel confirmed my suspicions: after two decades of decadent capitalism, Russians love the same Asian, American, and European car brands we Canadians do. So amongst the remaining few home-market brands, like Lada, the streets of the Russian capital are filled with Western cars, from Audi to Volvo.

This newfound love affair with foreign car brands has caused some serious growth in Russia's new car sales. Just last year, sales jumped by almost 40 per cent, to 2.8 million new vehicles sold annually. And most of that growth has come from non-Russian brands.

A good indication of how important the Russian market is can be found in the number of world debuts from automakers here at this year's Moscow show, an event held every two years. Alphabetically, are my picks for the best premieres at this year's show.