UPDATE 3-Russian minister calls for AvtoVAZ support measures

* Zhukov calls for measures to save jobs at Togliatti plant

* Says further production halts could be necessary

* AEB data shows total Russia car sales down 58 pct in July

* Decline is deeper than 56 percent fall seen in June

* Sales of AvtoVAZ's Lada brand fall 42 pct y/o/y in July

(Updates bullet points at top of story)

By Simon Shuster

MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A Russian minister called for new support measures at AvtoVAZ's mammoth car factory on the Volga to avoid social unrest as data on Monday showed car sales in Russia plummeted again in July.

Data from the Association of European Businesses (AEB) showed car sales fell 58 percent last month compared with the same period a year ago, a slightly worse showing than the 56 percent slump seen in June.

Analysts and government officials have warned that social unrest could radiate from the automotive sector, where companies have been forced to lay off workers, cut wages and shorten work weeks since the financial crisis began last fall. In a rare acknowledgement of the gravity of the problem, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov called for special measures to save jobs in Togliatti, where AvtoVAZ is located, but said further production halts could be necessary.

"I think the situation in Togliatti needs a special programme for stabilising the labour market considering a possibly temporary halt to the factory," he said, Interfax reported.

Last week, about 2000 auto workers and their supporters protested in Togliatti after AvtoVAZ shut down its flagship production facility for the month of August despite receiving over $1 billion in government help [ID:nLU451313]

That protest echoed this winter's unrest in the city of Vladivostok, where demonstrators clashed with police over higher import tariffs imposed to protect domestic makers like AvtoVAZ, which is partly owned by France's Renault (RENA.PA).

WORST IN BRIC

The AEB data showed Russian car sales were down 50 percent in the first seven months of this year, meaning that 881,754 fewer cars have been sold in this period than a year ago.

Among the biggest losers were some of the world's leading car makers, such as Toyota (7203.T), Ford (F.N) and Hyundai (005380.KS), all of whose sales fell by more than 70 percent year on year in July.

Global automotive majors had expanded aggressively into Russia over the past years, expecting it to become Europe's largest market in 2009 as it had long been among the fastest growing.

But instead an unprecedented decline has set in, contrasting sharply with other large emerging markets. India saw demand for cars increase in July for the sixth month in a row, China saw car sales surge 70.5 percent from a year earlier while Brazilian motorists bought more new cars in June than any previous month in history, encouraged by a suspension of sales taxes.

The backbone of Russia's rescue package for the auto industry has been a subsidy offered to banks for lowering the price of car loans.

But officials and car dealers have said it is failing to attract buyers in significant numbers, even though the state extended the subsidies to a broader range of cars in early July.

"We hope the actions taken by the government will start to reverse this trend during the summer, but urge close monitoring of the situation to ensure the actions are taking effect," said David Thomas, chairman of AEB's Automobile Manufacturers Committee.

Sales of AvtoVAZ's Lada brand fell 42 percent year on year in July, slightly better than its average decline of 44 percent for the first 7 months of 2009.

A table listing how many cars were sold in Russia by the major manufacturers can be found on the AEB Russia Web site: www.aebrus.ru. (Editing by David Holmes)