The German concern is looking for a buyer for the production site in Kaluga.
According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Volkswagen still intends to leave the Russian market. The supervisory board of the concern does not see the possibility of renewing the supply of components, and therefore wants to sell the enterprise in Kaluga, most likely to Russian or Chinese investors.
At the same time, the manufacturer will not be able to go out of business until it becomes clear who will take over the further maintenance of the cars, and all obligations to 4,000 local employees will not be fulfilled.
Earlier, several Russian publications reported that the company had begun to be prepared for sale, and it had already been visited by delegations of potential buyers from Kazakhstan and Austria, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Kazakh company Asia Auto, which has a license to produce Volkswagen and Skoda cars, was named as a possible future for the owner of the site. Such a deal would help the German group exit from direct ownership of the asset, while keeping production in Kaluga.
It will be recalled that Volkswagen Polo and Tiguan, Skoda Rapid, as well as 1.6 MPI engines were produced in the Kaluga region. On March 3 of this year, the assembly of cars and their supply to dealers was suspended.
Earlier, the German concern liquidated the production site in Nizhny Novgorod, which had also been idle since the beginning of spring. There, Volkswagen Taos, Skoda Kodiaq, Karoq and Octavia were assembled under contract at the GAZ Group facilities.
According to the Committee of Automobile Manufacturers of the European Business Association, in the first half of 2022, Volkswagen sold 14,458 cars on the Russian market (-72%), taking eighth place in the ranking of brands. At the same time, only 671 of them fell to June (-93%). Skoda’s results are 14,649 (-72%) and 659 (-93%) cars, respectively.
