Kommersant – Volvo Trucks have announced that the production has been suspended at Kaluga factory. The company press office has stated that it’s traditional with Volvo Group Trucks to suspend production throughout its factories worldwide in July-August period, however, due to the shrinkage in the market, the operations will be halted in Russia during the first two weeks of September.
Volga had opened its Kaluga factory in 2009. The factory has the capacity to manufacture 10,000 Volvo and 5000 Renault trucks annually. Volvo had signed an Industrial Assembly Regime agreement with the Russian government as a sub-industry manufacturer, as opposed to OEM status, in 2011 and obtained the opportunity import components in favourable conditions. The currently low localisation rate at the factory is planned to be increased with the establishment of the new cabin welding and paint shops in November.
According to Avtostat data, the Russian truck market has shrunk by 12.1% within the January-May period, with 38,400 vehicles. 6810 vehicles have been sold in May-only (-16.7%). The decline in Volvo sales is sharper, on the other hand. The brand has sold 1470 vehicles during the first month of the year (-46%). The May sales figure is 230 (-46.3%).
Volvo’s share in Russian truck market is 3.4%. The leader of the market is the Russian brand KamAZ, with 30.5% share.
