Russian car sales fell 38 percent last month, more than estimated, as the economy contracts and inflation accelerates after last year’s ruble collapse. Sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles dropped to 128,298 units in February from 206,526 a year earlier, the Association of European Businesses in Russia said Tuesday in a statement. That’s the biggest decline since 2009 and follows a 24 percent slump in January. The median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg was a decrease of 28 percent. Automakers in Russia are suffering after the ruble weakened 46 percent against the dollar last year, the world’s second-worst performance, and the economy slid to the brink of recession. Car manufacturers are offering discounts or slowing output to counter low demand, with consumers hurting from inflation at 16.7 percent in February, the fastest pace since 2002. The car market probably won’t rebound until 2019 […]