Economic uncertainty in Russia has led BMW to delay future plans to build a manufacturing facility in the country.  BMW currently contracts a third party manufacture in Russia to assemble cars shipped over from Germany in pre-manufactured kit form. BMW is experiencing a sales slow down in Russia to the tune of 14 percent, overall new car sales in Russia have fallen by around 36 percent. This is offset by the fact that the premium end of the car industry is stable, Mercedes managed to increase new car sales in region by 9 percent. Mercedes success may well be why BMW has seen a slight decline in new car sales. However Russia’s aggression in the Ukraine and the economic sanctions that followed have caused a lot of uncertainty about the country’s economic footing. For the moment Russia under Putin looks strong but behind the bravado the true strength of any country is its economy. Under Putin Russia looks week in the financial markets.