Local factories will begin producing cars in test mode in December 2023, Governor Vladimir Popov said at public hearings of the region’s budget. Several large enterprises are located in the Kaluga region: the former Volkswagen assembly site, the joint venture between Stellantis and Mitsubishi PSMA Rus, as well as the ex-Volvo Trucks plant. According to Popov, currently, out of three dozen companies in the local auto cluster, eight are idle.
Popov predicts that by the end of 2024, the auto industry could account for about seven percent of the region’s total industrial production.
The current situation in the automotive industry of the Kaluga region is as follows: Volkswagen sold Russian assets, including the plant, to the structure of the Avilon dealer holding – Art-Finance, for 125 million euros. The enterprise, located in the Grabtsevo industrial park, is designed to produce 225 thousand cars per year. Until the spring of 2022, Volkswagen Polo, Tiguan and Skoda Rapid models were produced here. Also in Kaluga, the German concern had a motor plant with a capacity of 150 thousand units per year.
And Alexey Sannikov became the new owner of the Volvo Trucks plant, whose legal entity changed its name from Volvo Vostok JSC to Stokov Machinery Equipment JSC. Moreover, it turned out that AB Volvo sold the Russian business without a buyback option.
The Stellantis plant is still idle, and its future fate is still unclear.
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