Solaris cars will be produced at the former Hyundai plant

The former Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg, which was transferred to the Russian company Art-Finance along with component warehouses, has resumed car production. The distributor AGR, which belongs to Art-Finance and is part of the same group as the former Hyundai plant, announced the start of sales of the Solaris automobile brand. The cars will be produced at the plant in St. Petersburg, and the proposed models of the new brand – HC, HS, KRS, KRX – look similar to the Hyundai Solaris, Creta, as well as the Kia Rio and Kia Rio X-line.

AGR Automotive Group announced the start of sales of the new automobile brand Solaris. Car production began in St. Petersburg at the AGR Automobile Plant LLC, it was clarified there. AGR Automobile Plant is the former Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus (HMMR). Korean Hyundai sold it to the Art-Finance company of former Avilon top manager Andrei Pavlovich, as a result the plant entered the perimeter of the AGR business, which also includes the former VW plant in Kaluga. The transaction took place at a symbolic price and involves a buyback.

The operation of the plant (ex-KhMMR) in Sestroretsk with a capacity of 200 thousand vehicles has been suspended since March 2022. Before the crisis, the site produced Hyundai Solaris, Creta and Kia Rio – some of the most popular car models sold in the Russian Federation. At the same time, warehouses of components remained on the site, from which it was possible to produce cars of the Korean model range. According to various sources, components sufficient to produce several tens of thousands of vehicles may remain at the site.

The Solaris brand lineup includes the Solaris HS, Solaris HC, Solaris KRS and Solaris KRX models and will be sold through the AGR dealer network, the company said in a statement. AGR Automobile Plant is the historical licensee of the Solaris trademark, owned by Hyundai. At the same time, the company also filed applications for registration of trademarks HC, HS, KRS, KRX in January.

Solaris cars in AGR materials look similar to the Hyundai Solaris (Solaris HS), Creta (Solaris HC), Kia Rio (Solaris KRS) and Kia Rio X-line (Solaris KRX) models.

General Director of AGR LLC and AGR Automobile Plant LLC Alexey Kalitsev (formerly managing director of Hyundai Motor CIS) said that “the start of production and sales of cars under the new Solaris brand is a very important stage in the implementation of our strategy.”

“We are confident that the models of the new brand will be appreciated by our customers, and the wide geography of our dealer network and the production capabilities of our plant in St. Petersburg will allow the Solaris brand to quickly increase its market share,” he said.

Olga Nikitina