Austrian entrepreneur Siegfried Wolf presented A project for the production of cars in the Russian Federation, which he himself estimated at 60 billion rubles, to the Russian authorities. He writes about it on Friday, April 7 Der Spiegel.
According to the publication, in January 2023 Wolf sent this proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The plan envisages the production of at least 270,000 vehicles per year at two enterprises, the GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod and the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga.
The businessman proposed to resume production in the Russian Federation of some models of Skoda cars with a new design, based on the characteristic features of the Volga and Pobeda, in the second half of this year. In particular, he called for the “revival of the legendary Russian brand Volga.” Wolf believes the project will help create 12,000 new jobs. The entrepreneur asked for a loan from the Russian authorities for business development.
Siegfried Wolf served as GAZ Chairman of the Board until 2019, now a member of the Porsche Supervisory Board. In March 2023, Der Spiegel reported that German auto parts manufacturer Schaeffler plans to sell its business in Russia through a Wolf-controlled conglomerate.
In March last year, Volkswagen Group announced the cessation of its production facilities in Russia and the cessation of automobile exports to the Russian Federation. conflict in Ukraine. In contrast, Hyundai, citing supply difficulties, has moved to St. It stopped the assembly lines in St. Petersburg.
Production of Chinese cars in Russia
April 6 newspaper “Kommersant” Citing sources, he wrote that the production of Chinese Chery cars is planned to start at the former Volkswagen plant in Kaluga.
Also, according to the publication, Hyundai’s deal to sell its assets in Russia is nearing completion.
Kommersant claims that the partial confiscation of Volkswagen’s assets as part of the proceedings, as well as the legal dispute between GAZ and Volkswagen, did not slow the sale and that the Avilon car seller should still be the buyer.
Volkswagen announced two weeks ago that it is ready to complete the sale of Russian assets to a “trusted Russian investor”.
It is planned to assemble Chinese Chery cars at the factory in the future,” he says.
According to the newspaper’s addressees, St. A structure close to Astana Motors, which organizes parts production for a plant in St. Petersburg, could be a candidate for Hyundai’s assets.
Also, on the eve of the concern, BAIC (Beijing Automotive Group) and its dealer Major Auto announced that the automobile production volume of the Chinese BAIC brand will be 30 thousand units in 2023.
“The total production volume planned by the end of the year will be about 30 thousand cars, in total seven BAIC models will be presented in Russia this year,” the report says.
Sales of the BAIC U5 Plus sedan and X35 crossover are expected to begin soon. By the end of the year, the car lineup will be replenished with two crossovers, two SUVs and an electric car.
Previously, Avtotor, a Kaliningrad enterprise, began the industrial assembly of cars of the Chinese brand BAIC. The first models that began to be assembled at the enterprise were the BAIC X35 crossover and the BAIC U5 plus sedan. Sales of these models are scheduled to begin in the second quarter. TASS.