By William Boston in Berlin, Paul Sonne in Kaluga and James Marson in Moscow 

Over the past decade, foreign car makers have invested billions in a vision of Russia as an emerging-growth market on Europe's doorstep.

Now, with a 40% drop in the Russian ruble since June and political tension with the West, that dream is turning into a nightmare for car makers that hoped to recharge their sluggish European business with Russian car sales.

General Motors Co. and German premium-car maker Audi AG, a unit of Volkswagen AG, said Thursday that they have halted deliveries of new vehicles to dealers in Russia. The news comes a day after luxury brand Jaguar Land Rover suspended sales to its Russian dealers.

"In view of the volatility of the ruble exchange rate and with the aim to manage its business risk, GM Russia has decided to temporarily suspend wholesaling of vehicles to its dealers," a GM spokesman said in a statement.

Car makers aren't pulling out of Russia yet, but they are growing increasingly nervous and moving to control the damage from plunging consumer demand and exposure to Russia's swooning currency. The suspension of wholesale sales to car dealers shows that foreign car makers aren't sure they can sell cars in Russia at a profit under current market conditions.

Tim Urquhart, analyst with IHS Automotive, said it is likely that car makers will scrutinize their Russian business strategies in the coming weeks and months. "There is little point in manufacturing and importing vehicles that are going to lose money simply because the ruble's ongoing slide is so dramatic," he said.

Not only car makers are suffering. Russian consumers fearing a surge in prices on consumer goods from Apple iPhones to IKEA kitchen furniture and appliances have rushed retailers in the past week. In response, Apple said it was ceasing sales of its products in Russia. IKEA halted sales until the weekend, when it plans to resume sales at higher prices.

Russia's broader economic malaise caused new-car sales to tumble nearly 12% to 2.2 million vehicles in the first 11 months of the year, hitting imports and locally produced models.

BMW said it has responded to the falling margins on car sales by reducing exports to Russia since the summer and "reallocating vehicles to more attractive markets."

Several foreign manufacturers have bet on Russia overtaking Germany as Europe's biggest car market, which seemed likely until the Ukraine crisis.

The Franco-Japanese auto alliance Renault- Nissan took a 67.1% stake in the holding company that controls 74.5% of Russian automotive group AvtoVAZ in June. Russian state-owned technology group Rostec holds the remaining shares in the holding company. AvtoVAZ sales in Russia fell 16% to 351,992 vehicles in the 11 months to November, according to the Association of European Businesses.

Separately, Japanese auto maker Nissan started production this month of the X-Trail crossover at its plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, part of the expansion of Nissan's Russian manufacturing base. Nissan has doubled capacity at the plant to 100,000 vehicles a year and increased the number of models it produces from three to five.

Nissan said it has made no changes to X-Trail production targets in light of the ruble slide. Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest car maker by sales, said it would soon determine the timing and volume of price increases on vehicles sold in Russia to adjust to current exchange rates.

Volkswagen, the world's second-largest auto group, has curtailed output at its Kaluga plant in the wake of Russia's economic crisis.

The German auto maker invested EUR1.3 billion in factories in Russia between 2006 and 2013 and has earmarked another EUR1.2 billion in investment to the end of 2018. By the end of November, VW's sales in Russia were down 13%.

In response, Volkswagen laid off 600 temporary workers in Kaluga from a total workforce of 4,800 this year, according to people familiar with the situation. Next year, VW is expected to lay off its remaining 200 temporary workers and up to 400 employees from its permanent workforce. The Kaluga plant was closed for three weeks this fall and will close for planned holiday vacations from Dec. 22 to Jan. 12.

Volkswagen said it remains committed to the Russian market, but didn't respond to requests for comment on the Kaluga layoffs.

In addition to economic gyrations, politics is creating further uncertainty. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in comments in Moscow Thursday, confirmed that the Russian government had considered banning auto imports altogether as a response to Western sanctions. That no longer seems necessary, he added, as the decline in Russia's currency has put the price of imported cars out of reach of many Russian consumers.

"At the current exchange rate, it doesn't make any economic sense, as the exchange rate has itself put everything in its place," he said, referring to an import ban.

Car makers have been struggling in Russia all year, but the situation took a turn for the worse in June, when the ruble's depreciation accelerated and the Russian economy began to feel the impact of western sanctions.

There was some relief in November, when the slide in car sales slowed as a result of a government-backed cash-for-clunkers program that subsidizes car owners who trade in old cars to purchase a new vehicle.

But this week the ruble tumbled again, sapping sales again and threatening the earnings of car companies with exposure to Russia.

Citing BMW as an example, Evercore ISI automotive analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said the Munich-based auto group could lose up to EUR150 million in earnings in the fourth quarter alone if the ruble loses half its value. He said other car makers such as Daimler, VW, Renault SA and Hyundai Motor Co are more exposed to Russian sales and could be hit even harder.

"The abrupt 50% drop in the Ruble is causing major pain," said Mr. Ellinghorst.

Jeff Bennett, Santanu Choudhury and

Jason Chow

contributed to this article.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com, Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com and James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com

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