By the end of the year, the Yelabuga production site, formerly known as Sollers Ford, will begin production of new models under the Sollers brand. Recall that until 2011, Sollers produced Fiat minibuses in Yelabuga, and in all subsequent years was engaged in assembling Ford Transit. It stopped after Ford’s suspension in Russia in 2022.
A new stage in the life of the company, already agreed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and set out in an additional agreement on SPIC (a special investment contract that offers advantages for localization), involves the production of cars on the Chinese platform. At the same time, there are no such cars in China – according to Kommersant, the platform from the Russian side will be significantly changed and will gradually be located almost completely.
In previous years, Sollers Auto had several joint ventures, such as Sollers-Bussan in Vladivostok, where the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado was assembled in 2013-15. Now the project is frozen and the main asset of Sollers Auto is UAZ
Localization includes the launch of diesel engine production, its own stamping production, as well as the production of electronic modules, chassis elements and plastic products. The cars will be sold under the Sollers brand and, according to the publication, will be two LCV models with cabover and semi-engined layout with a gross weight of 2.5 to 4.5 tons.
The aim is to assemble commercial vehicles of new models by the end of 2022.
- A few days earlier, the head of Sollers Auto, Nikolai Sobolev, spoke about Sollers’ rights to refine the partner platform.
- “Driving” can now be viewed on RuTube.