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Volkswagen today confirmed its complete withdrawal from the Russian market. The German automaker’s plant in the Russian city of Kaluga will be sold to the Avilon group (which sells new and used cars), the Wolfsburg-based company announced. Following earlier steps in relation to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the decision marks the de facto end of an independent Russian business for Europe’s largest automaker.
In March 2022, shortly after the aggression on Ukraine, Volkswagen it had suspended production at the two plants it owned at the time in Russia. The export of vehicles of all brands of the group had also stopped, but Volkswagen’s future in Russia remained temporarily open. Russian state media reported that Moscow has greenlit the deal, valued at around 125 million euros (about $135 million).
The Volkswagen group has been operating in Russia for some time and in 2007 it opened the plant in Kaluga, about 150 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Avilon will gain full control of Volkswagen Group Rus and its subsidiaries, including several companies for the sale of Scania-branded trucks (Volkswagen Components and Services, Scania Leasing, Scania Finance, Scania Insurance).
The sale was delayed by a lawsuit brought by Gaz, a former production partner of Volkswagen, known in Soviet times for building the Volga model. Gaz had sued the German automaker for damages for disrupting the deal, but a Russian court has dismissed the suit.
