New-car sales in Russia fell 10 percent to 125,917 vehicles in March, the smallest decline in 15 months, causing a leading business group in the country to forecast that the market is close to hitting bottom. "March sales results demonstrate that the automotive market as a whole is not in good shape yet although gradually moving closer to hitting a bottom after many months of continuous decline," Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the AEB automobile manufacturers committee, said in a statement on Friday.