Sollers Group wants to make small trucks at a plant in Ulyanovsk

The Sollers Group received 1.4 billion rubles. net profit in January-June 2023 against a loss of 1.1 billion rubles. a year earlier. The automaker notes the positive dynamics of production and sales of UAZ and the success of new products under its own Sollers brand. The company also disclosed the amount of the transaction for the acquisition of the former plant of the Japanese Isuzu in the Russian Federation – the asset cost 2.8 billion rubles. The site is planned to be restarted by starting the production of trucks there – then the company will be present in all market segments. According to Kommersant, we are talking about a small truck – Isuzu previously worked in this segment with its N-series.

PJSC Sollers received 1.4 billion rubles. net profit for the first half of the year, according to the company’s report (.pdf). Revenue amounted to 32.7 billion rubles, of which almost 27 billion rubles. accounted for the sale of vehicles. A year earlier, the company received 1.1 billion rubles. net loss with revenue of 26.2 billion rubles.

“The indicators of the first half of 2023 reflect the positive dynamics of growth in production volumes in the Sollers group due to the recovery of UAZ sales and the successful launch of new products under the Sollers brand on the market,” said Nikolay Sobolev, General Director of Sollers. Recall that in the summer of 2022, Mr. Sobolev and other top managers you bought a controlling stake in Sollers (76.7%) from Vadim Shvetsov to Alter Invest.

The group now also includes Sollers Komtrans, the former Isuzu Rus. Recall that Sollers had a joint production with Isuzu, which was liquidated after the start of the special operation. On the closing of the transaction for the sale of Isuzu Rus became known in July of this year, at the same time the company was renamed into Sollers Comtrans. The plant with a capacity of 5 thousand vehicles per year until the spring of 2022 assembled trucks under the Isuzu brand. According to the reports, the deal amounted to 2.8 billion rubles.

Based on the assets of Isuzu Rus in Ulyanovsk, it is planned to organize the production of trucks in cooperation with a new partner, the document specifies.

A Kommersant source familiar with the company’s plans notes that Sollers intends to use this platform to enter the segment where Isuzu was actively present. It is planned to bring an analogue of the Isuzu N-series model to the market to meet the existing demand.

Sollers followed the same path as with other assets of former partners – Ford and Mazda. Thus, Sollers Alabuga, where Ford Transit cars were produced, has been producing the Atlant car under its own Sollers brand since the fall of 2022. It was the group’s first restarted plant since the crisis began. The car was created on the basis of the Chinese counterpart. In addition, at AIT in Vladivostok, the company is now preparing to produce pickups – also using models from partners from China.

Olga Nikitina