The new passenger car market in Ukraine in 2014 contracted by 54% compared to 2013, to 92,342 cars, the AUTO-Consulting analytical group has said.

"The figure is linked to the difficult economic situation in Ukraine and the loss of sections of areas where around 25% of all sales in the previous years was focused," reads the report.

Toyota led in sales (third in 2013) with 9,659 cars sold (32% down year-over-year).

Geely was second with a 41.6% decline in sales, to 8,813 cars and ZAZ, last year's leader, was third with 7,463 cars sold (a fall of almost 59%).

Hyundai and Skoda came fourth and fifth respectively.

"Volkswagen, Nissan and AvtoVAZ managed to retain their positions in the market, while the rest of the brands' indicators differed from the previous year’s figures. Along with a 54% decline in the car market almost no one managed to achieve growth in sales in absolute figures, apart from exotic brands," the group said.

AUTO-Consulting said that Mazda saw the smallest fall in sales – by 13.7%, to 2,261 cars, polling 12th on the market. Opel saw the biggest fall in sales (82%).

The group said that almost all dealer chains remained efficient and entered 2015 year with plans to continue working. Only dealers in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and some operators in Crimea lost contracts due to various reasons.

December sales of 6,900 new cars encouraged optimism, according to the group.