Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak confirmed in an interview with Kommersant that there were reports that Ford had abandoned its independent business in Russia due to sales problems. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the company will focus on the production of light commercial vehicles (LCV) in Russia. In this segment, it has a "successful and highly localized product" - Ford Transit.
Ford's interests in the Russian market will be represented by the Sollers group, which will receive a controlling stake in the Ford Sollers JV as part of the automaker's restructuring. As part of the restructuring, plants in Naberezhnye Chelny and Vsevolozhsk, as well as an engine plant in the Alabuga SEZ (Yelabuga), will be closed by July.
At present, the Ford Sollers joint venture has three production facilities in Russia - in Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad region), Naberezhnye Chelny and Yelabuga (Tatarstan) - with a total production capacity of about 350 vehicles per year. The plant in Vsevolozhsk produces Ford Focus and Mondeo models, in Naberezhnye Chelny - Ford Fiesta and EcoSport.
Sales of Ford passenger cars have been going badly lately. In the first two months of this year, the company's sales fell by 45% to 4,17 thousand units. Andrey Kossov, head of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses, suggested that the production and sales volumes of the joint venture did not provide an adequate level of profitability.
So the current decision of Ford was quite natural. βTherefore, we can say that the issue of the continued presence of the Ford brand on the Russian market was resolved in the most cost-effective way,β said Dmitry Kozak.
Source: 3dnews.ru