Haval launched in Russia the production of engines for the local line of brand cars

Haval has launched the production of engines in the Russian Federation that will be installed on the local line of brand cars. It is expected that the new plant will be able to produce more than 100 thousand engines annually – the production of brand cars in the Russian Federation in 2023 approached this mark, and sales exceeded it. At the same time, at the start of the project, apparently, engine assembly will not significantly increase the level of localization of Haval models.

Haval launched an engine production plant in the Russian Federation. At the site located next to the brand’s main plant in the Tula region, 1.5-liter and 2-liter engines will be produced, which are mainly used to equip the concern’s local line.

The planned production capacity is more than 100 thousand units per year, noted Haval President in Russia Zhang Junxue. He also indicated that this is “the next stage in the implementation of obligations in the field of vehicle localization.”

Haval became the first and so far the only Chinese automaker to sign a special investment contract (SPIC, which provides benefits in exchange for investment and access to recycling compensation).

The concern’s plant with a capacity of up to 150 thousand cars per year was launched in the summer of 2019, and the SPIC was concluded only in 2020 and under the most stringent conditions in the industry: as the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported then, Haval needs to score 7 thousand points for localization. For example, welding and painting, the conditions under which other SPICs in the automotive industry were concluded, give only 900 points.

Haval sold 111.7 thousand passenger cars in the Russian Federation in 2023, estimated “Autostat”. At the same time, about 100 thousand were produced in Russia, which is 2.5 times more than a year earlier. More than half of the enterprise’s output was the best-selling foreign car in the Russian Federation – the Jolion crossover. Another third of production was made up of F-series cars – the Haval F7 crossover and the F7x cross-coupe. The rest of the production came from the Haval Dargo and H9.

Now the most localized model – Haval Jolion – scores 1.63 thousand localization points according to the 719th resolution, taking into account R&D, and almost 1.5 thousand points – excluding R&D. The remaining models are about 1–1.2 thousand points.

IN message from the Ministry of Industry and Trade it is said that at the first stage at the engine plant, “assembly is carried out, engine pistons are localized,” and in the future it is planned to deepen the localization of the produced power plants. According to Resolution 719, assembly, including installation of the crankshaft and connecting rod and piston group, as well as control tests, give only 25 points. In this case, 95 points are given for the processing and use of blanks of cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts and the use of blanks of crankshafts. Among foreign manufacturers, similar operations in the Russian Federation were carried out by VW at its engine plant before the crisis.

Olga Nikitina