New car sales in Russia stood at 55,129 units in March, down 62.9% year on year, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said on Wednesday.

For the first quarter Russia's sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles were down 28.4% to 277,332 units.

AEB did not provide a forecast for the Russian market.

The sector is suffering from a global shortage of parts and a fall in the rouble caused by Western sanctions on Russia.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely)