Sollers restarts its plant in Vladivostok

As Kommersant learned, the Sollers company restarted the plant in Vladivostok, where Mazda cars were produced before the crisis: serial assembly of pickup trucks begins at the site. So far we are talking about one model under the Sollers brand, similar to the JAC T6. At the beginning of 2024, another pickup truck will be put on the conveyor, and then the concern will enter other segments. The site in Vladivostok traditionally dealt only with assembly, therefore, according to Kommersant, to increase localization, Sollers is integrating a diesel engine into cars, which it will produce in Yelabuga, also installing on other Sollers and UAZs. Equipment from the engine plant in Vladivostok, produced for Mazda in Japan, moved to another Sollers asset – ZMZ.

According to Kommersant sources, on September 11 Sollers begins serial assembly of pickup trucks in Vladivostok under its own brand – at the start we are talking about one model. As for the creation of the first Sollers brand cars in the LCV segment – Atlant and Argo, the automaker used a base of models from China. A car similar to the JAC T6 will be put on the assembly line in Vladivostok.

According to Kommersant, it will cost from 2.4 million rubles. for the petrol version and from 2.5 million rubles. with a diesel engine.

The launch of production was confirmed to Kommersant by Sollers.

We are talking about the Automotive Industrial Technologies (AIT) platform. Since 2012, the company has been producing cars in large-knot assembly (SKD) mode as a parity joint venture with Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus. At the beginning of 2022, three models were produced – Mazda6, Mazda CX-5 and Mazda CX-9, but in the spring of the same year, assembly ceased. The plant’s design capacity is 100 thousand cars per year; in 2021, production was 29 thousand units. Sollers consolidated 100% of the company in the fall of 2022, and then the former joint venture was renamed AIT.

In addition to cars, the site produced engines for Mazda models in Japan. At the end of 2022, AIT reported in its reports that on December 20 it was decided to stop producing engines. The company also impaired assets against the background of the suspension of Mazda production, and “part of the fixed assets, the further use of which is impossible, was transferred to long-term assets for sale.”

The total amount of impairment amounted to 2 billion rubles, of which 807.1 million rubles. accounted for long-term assets for sale. As Kommersant’s interlocutor, familiar with the situation, told us, it was about engine plant equipment: it had already been sold to another Sollers asset, ZMZ, and integrated into the cylinder head machining cycle.

According to Kommersant, at the beginning of 2024 another pickup truck will be put on the AIT conveyor, but the line of models will expand into other segments. The AIT conveyor is not equipped with lines for welding and painting. But the models will be assembled using local components: first with an ERA-Glonass unit and electronics, and then with a Russian engine and automatic transmission, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Kommersant.

We are talking about a two-liter JAC diesel engine, which Sollers will localize at the plant in Yelabuga (it is also planned to equip the Sollers LCV line and the classic UAZ line), and the gearbox will be produced at ZMZ.

Sergey Udalov from Avtostat notes that the pickup truck market in the Russian Federation is not very large, but there is a niche, and Sollers will be able to provide good positioning in terms of price, including through engine localization.

According to Autostat, in the first half of the year 6.6 thousand pickups were sold in the Russian Federation, of which 1.4 thousand were UAZ. According to Mr. Udalov, the range of models at the site in Vladivostok needs to be increased to ensure load, and the use of a localized engine will provide synergy.

The analyst adds that Japan’s ban on importing cars with an engine of 1.9 liters or more into the Russian Federation could also help the Sollers project, providing additional demand in the Far East. He emphasizes that special price conditions will be offered for residents of the Far East, and the company is counting on demand in the region – both from service providers and for small shipments, as well as in the traveler segment.

Olga Nikitina