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Volkswagen to invest 1.2 billion euros before 2019 to develop its production in Russia

BERLIN, November 26, 22:38 /ITAR-TASS/. Germany’s carmaker Volkswagen will continue expanding its business in Russia and plans to invest 1.2 billion euros in its projects in Russia before the end of 2018, CEO of Europe’s biggest auto-giant Martin Winterkorn said on Tuesday.

“The concern considers Russia as the strategically important market number one in Europe,” he said.

Previously, Acting Director General of the Volkswagen Group Rus plant Andreas Klar stated that the planned value of the concern’s investments in the setting up of its own engine manufacturing plant in Kaluga will make up 250 million euros. The new plant is scheduled to be commission in 2015. Its capacity is about 600 engines a day.

According to Andreas Klar, Volkswagen Polo now has the highest localisation (about 60 percent) among the company’s other models assembled at the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga. In the future, such a level of localisation will be reached for new models, production of which is now being launched, the top-manager said, adding that the production of more powerful engines may be started for those models.

Currently, the Kaluga-Based Volkswagen plant applies a completely knocked down assembly method for the production of Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Tiguan and Volkswagen Polo sedans. The plans also assemblies Volkswagen Touareg and Volkswagen Multivan. The company plans to launch assembling Skoda Rapid cars.

In the summer 2011, Volkswagen and Russia’s GAZ Group signed an eight-year agreement on the contract assembly of Volkswagen and Skoda cars at GAZ’s facilities. Late in 2012, the company launched a full-cycle manufacturing of Skoda Yeti cars. The plant already makes Skoda Octavia and plans to start assembling Volkswagen Jetta model.

According to Volkswagen, it has invested already 1.3 billion euros in the automobile production sector in Russia since 2006.