New car sales in Ukraine in March 2013 amounted to 19,000, which is almost 60% up on the previous month, the AUTO-Consulting information-analytical group said on its Web site, linking this result with the information on imposing special duties on car imports.

"Even given the seasonal activation of buyers in the first month of spring, foreign car sales increased by 40-70%. Such high demand allowed the car market to not only reach the figures of March last year, but exceed them by 0.11%," reads the report.

According to AUTO-Consulting, in March 2013 the leader on the car market was Hyundai, which increased sales by 62%.

"Geely ranked second. Its buyers were most afraid of the future introduction of special duties and ensured a sales growth of 142%," the analysts said.

Kia ranked third, and Nissan also increased sales.

But the most interesting thing is that the sales of ZAZ cars increased by almost the same figure (60%)," reads the report.

Record high growth in sales was seen in the Toyota dealer chain (a 72% rise), however Volkswagen with sales growth at 35%, fell from second place.

The experts reported that cars produced by Russia's AvtoVAZ in March dropped to eighth place and are "just a step from leaving the top ten rating."

According to AUTO-Consulting, the fight in the segment of low-cost cars has escalated, in which the sales of Renault Logan, Citroen C-Elysee, and Peugeot 301, well accepted by buyers, were started.

At the same time, a decline in sales is seen in this segment, while the sale of mid-range cars remained unchanged at the level of last year.

"The leader changed again in the premium segment - in March it was Mercedes-Benz, which succeeded in going ahead of Audi. The segment of expensive cars- the most growing segment of the Ukrainian market - in March showed a 6.5% rise in sales compared to last year," said the group.

As reported, in 2012 new car sales fell by 1.4% compared to 2011, to 217,580 units.

This year, the experts generally forecast recession or stagnation of the car market in Ukraine, as well as an increase in car prices due to the introduction from April 13 of special duties on imports of new passenger cars with the engines of 1,000-1,500 cc by 6.46% and the rise in the cost of cars with engines of 1,500-2,000 cc by 12.95% regardless of the country of origin and export.