Mercedes-Benz closed the deal on the sale of the plant near Moscow. The production of Chinese cars is likely to begin at the site. This is reported by Kommersant.
As the publication notes, Mercedes-Benz became the third major manufacturer of passenger cars to leave Russia. Before that, Renault and Nissan sold their assets and left it. The Toyota plant also closed in the country.
The concern sold its plant in the suburbs of Moscow and property to a dealer of the Avtodim brand. The concern estimated its assets in the Russian Federation at 2 billion euros. Automotive expert Volodymyr Bespalov cannot evaluate the deal taking into account the current situation on the car market, when assets are sold for 1 ruble.
The supply of cars over 50,000 euros from the EU and all cars from the USA to the Russian Federation is prohibited by sanctions. Also, other restrictions actually make stable supplies of components to the Russian Federation impossible.
Last year, the Mercedes-Benz concern increased sales in the Russian Federation by 11%, to 43,000 cars. According to the results of nine months of the current year, they decreased by 73% to 9.1 thousand pieces.
‘Avtodim’ specializes in the sale and service of premium and luxury cars. The holding belongs to Andrii Olhovskyi. In August, Avtodom announced active negotiations with a number of Chinese automakers regarding the exclusive distribution of new brands in Russia.
