Page 115 - RusRPTDec22

and on the Russian site of Chinese Haval, Manturov said. Manturov also said
that the government will provide the car industry with 32bn rubles of
preferential loans until the end of the year under an Industrial Development
Fund program to produce Russian automobile components. He also suggested
expanding preferential car loans to servicemen, including the mobilised, their
family members, as well as retirees. Putin seconded this proposal. Cars must
become much more affordable for Russians in the current situation, Putin said.
Three major car manufacturers, Ford Motor, Mercedes-Benz, and Mazda
became the latest international companies to exit the Russian market. After
suspending Russian operations in March, Ford has now announced the sale
of its 49% share in the Sollers Ford Joint Venture. The company retains the
option to repurchase its shares within five years “should the global situation
change.” Likewise, Mazda agreed to sell its shares of the Mazda Sollers
Manufacturing Rus to the Sollers Group, with the option of repurchasing within
three years. Mercedes-Benz announced its intention to sell its Russian
divisions to local investor Avtodom. These three are not alone; car companies
Nissan, Toyota, and Renault all pulled out of Russia last month.
Russian car producer AvtoVAZ expects the Russian passenger car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) market to fall to 670,000–700,000 units in 2022, AEB reports. “God willing this year it will be 670,000–700,000 vehicles,” he said when asked about the current situation on the car market. According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB), Russia’s car market amounted to 1.6mn cars and light commercial vehicles in 2021. In January-October of 2022 sales barely reached over 500,000 cars.
Russia will manage to localize production of key electronic components within two years, CEO of the Russian state-run corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov told TASS in an interview before the 15th anniversary of the company’s establishment.
The Industry and Trade Ministry sees it unreasonable to include the cars of France's Renault in the beneficial car loan program, because the company has left the market. An official said that the goal of the program is to support sales of Russian or locally produced cars. "Taking into account that Renault left the Russian market, further support of sales of the cars under the brand from the federal budget is seen as unreasonable," he said. Dealers earlier asked the ministry to put Renault on the program to sell about 5,000 cars left in stock.
115 RUSSIA Country Report December 2022 www.intellinews.com