Production of premium Chinese crossovers will be launched in the Moscow region

The former Mercedes-Benz plant in Esipovo is preparing for a full restart. As Kommersant reports, citing its own sources, they are organizing contract production of Chery cars, namely the Exeed models, and the VX crossover will be the first to hit the production line. Assembly starts in July, and in August the cars produced in Esipovo will already be available for purchase.

The car plant in the Moscow region was built and put into operation in 2019 – this project cost Mercedes-Benz 19 billion rubles, including the cost of employee training. And in the spring of 2022, after the start of the SVO, the German company suspended the operation of the enterprise and put business in Russia on pause. Later, Mercedes-Benz completely got rid of Russian assets, including the enterprise in Yesipovo, and the Avtodom dealer holding became its new owner.

Under new management and with the support of an unnamed Chinese partner, the plant was able to restart – it has been operating in test mode since the beginning of 2023. For obvious reasons, Avtodom does not say which brand from China helped with the relaunch, as this could result in sanctions for the new industrial partner. However, rumors that the capacity of the former Mercedes plant will be loaded with Exeed cars have been circulating for several months now.

Test assembly of cars has begun at the ex-Mercedes-Benz plant in Russia. The former Mercedes-Benz plant in the Moscow region will produce cars of a new brand. The first Russian-assembled Exeed crossovers have arrived at car showrooms.

Back in the spring, a Vehicle Type Approval was issued for the VX, with this particular site indicated as the place of production. The TXL model received a similar certificate. In total, Avtodom intends to bring to the market eight models assembled near Moscow, and for this the holding will launch its own brand. At the beginning of June, information appeared that it would be called Maxeed, but the dealer did not confirm this.

As for the Exeed VX, this premium crossover is officially presented on the Russian market, and for now the model is being supplied to us from China. The car is almost five meters long with 200 mm ground clearance and all-wheel drive and is equipped with a two-liter engine coupled with a seven-speed “robot”. Prices as of the end of June start at 4.2 million rubles, including discounts.

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