Solaris will unite Korean cars – Kommersant FM
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Production of Hyundai and Kia cars may resume under a new brand. The Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus plant will produce the Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris models under the general name Solaris, the media and specialized Telegram channels write. We are talking about the enterprise of the Korean automaker in Sestroretsk near St. Petersburg. At the end of December 2023, this asset was bought by the Art-Finance company, which last year became the owner of the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga.
The St. Petersburg Hyundai plant has been operating since 2010. The new Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio sedans, as well as the Hyundai Creta crossovers, were produced there. However, since March 2022, the enterprise has been idle, from which it emerged only in January 2024. In November, the media wrote that production of cars under the Chinese GAC brand could begin there. However, the option of producing cars called Solaris is still the most likely, says Roman Zubko, editor-in-chief of Dvizhok magazine:
“There are big doubts that GAC or other Chinese brands will be happy to take advantage of these capacities and opportunities to produce something in Russia under their own brand. As the story with AvtoVAZ at the Nissan plant shows, when they tried to produce the FAW crossover under the Lada brand, the Chinese are not eager to produce something in Russia specifically for the domestic market.
The Solaris brand really belonged to the Hyundai-Kia concern and now, as far as one can understand, belongs to the St. Petersburg plant near Sestroretsk. It is very likely that some amount of Solaris cars will be produced there, but, as far as I know, there is no talk yet about Creta crossovers under the new brand.”
Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio cars, which were also produced at a plant near St. Petersburg, have long been the most popular in the Russian car market. But the production of cars based on them under the common Solaris brand will be justified only in the case of budget sedans, says Oleg Moseev, head of the Automarketer project:
“Hyundai Solaris was mega-popular in Russia, the model’s recognition is one of the highest. But in the eyes of the consumer, it is still associated with the lower price segment of the Hyundai line. Therefore, when they say that they are starting to produce a la Hyundai, but only under the Solaris brand, people get the feeling that these will only be B-class cars.
Only the plant can say how much Solaris, produced in Russia, can cost now. At the same time, the segment is quite empty. Its lower part is occupied by Lada Vesta, there are also Changan Alsvin and Kaiyi in small quantities, however, the lack of cars in this segment is felt most acutely. The market is just waiting for a sedan and a liftback worth 1.5-1.7 million rubles, maximum 2 million rubles.”
The St. Petersburg Hyundai plant was capable of producing 200 thousand cars annually. According to specialized media reports, now at this enterprise six to eight Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio cars are assembled daily, on which the original emblems are still attached. The output volume of the restarted plant may be comparable to that until 2022. Moreover, it is unlikely that significant difficulties will arise with servicing these machines. So says auto expert Mikhail Lezzhov:
“The first step is to complete the assembly of those vehicle kits that are in stock right now and free up warehouses. The volume of production, of course, depends on the number of kits available. It is unlikely that production would have started for the sake of several dozen cars. Still, this number is close to 1 thousand, probably.
No difficulties are foreseen with servicing these machines, because our market is quite filled with spare parts from different manufacturing countries. They can be repaired at all the same dealership centers that were there before. It is only important that there are no problems identifying spare parts by VIN number.”
Russian authorities recently outlined approximate prospects for the former Hyundai plant near St. Petersburg. Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said in early January that the assembly of new cars at this production site will resume no later than mid-2024.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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