Sollers wants to overtake Transit

Sollers plans to localize the welding and painting of new light commercial vehicles in the first quarter of 2023. However, the launch of the engine plant, previously focused on the Ford Transit, has been pushed back to 2024. By this date, the company plans to sell 30,000 cars a year, replacing the share of Ford Transit that left the Russian Federation, and by 2028 – 50,000 cars. The cost of operating the main Atlant model is comparable to the Transit, analysts say. However, they doubt that Sollers will be able to quickly win over a significant part of the demand from Gazelles, this will require “showing the best performance.”

Sollers plans to switch to welding and painting of its LCVs under the brand of the same name by the end of the first quarter and, within two years, to produce up to 30,000 units per year for them within two to three years, Zoya Kaika, deputy head of the company, said. Until the end of the year, the concern will assemble 900 cars, all of which have already been contracted, said Nikolai Sobolev, general director of Sollers.

We are talking about the models “Atlant” weighing 2.5-4.2 tons and “Argo” weighing 2.5-3.5 tons. Their sales began in December. The cars will be produced at the site in Yelabuga, where Ford Transit was produced until the spring of 2022. Ford has decided to leave Russia and leave the joint venture with Sollers. “Atlant” and “Argo” are created on the basis of Chinese cars of the JAC brand.

Until 2028, Sollers expects to reach a production volume of 50,000 cars per year and take 40% of the Russian LCV market.

Nikolai Sobolev expects that sales of such cars will return to pre-crisis levels in just three to five years (according to the Association of European Businesses, 130.7 thousand LCVs were sold in Russia in 2021). Sergey Udalov from Avtostat notes that the LCV market fell less than the passenger segment, so it can recover even faster.

The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, called the cars of the new Sollers line “a replacement for the Ford Transit.” Sales of the latter in 2021 amounted to 20.8 thousand cars, so Sollers’ plans are more optimistic than the real achievements of Ford. But before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the segment was much more competitive: LCVs were sold in Russia, including Iveco, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz. In 2022, the LCV market, following the results of 11 months, fell by 47.6%, to 66.8 thousand vehicles (Avtostat data). The most popular model was the Gazelle Next (a drop in sales by 42.1%, to 17.7 thousand units), followed by the same Ford Transit (a drop by 60.7%, to 7.1 thousand units).

To localize the machines, Sollers plans to use the database of suppliers of the Transit project – in particular, the stamping manufacturer, as well as the engine plant in Yelabuga.

Initially, the company produced engines for Ford passenger cars, but after the brand left this segment in the Russian Federation in 2019, the Sollers Ford JV bought a site to organize the production of diesel engines for Transit. The release was planned to start in 2023 (see “Kommersant” dated January 26, 2021). Now the deadline has been shifted to 2024, Sollers clarified Kommersant.

It is assumed that Atlant will become the “volume-forming” model in the Sollers line, while Argo will be “more niche”, focusing on the e-commerce segment in large cities. Nikolai Sobolev noted that the brand is positioned “at the highest price range of competitors.”

Atlanta prices start from 2.9 million rubles. (an all-metal van with a short base and an average roof height), Argo with a diesel engine – from 2.6 million rubles. Prices on the websites of dealers for “Atlant” – from 3.2 million rubles.

Sergey Udalov notes that Sollers starts with such prices, “probably taking into account the high costs at the initial stage.” Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting says that Atlant is close to Transit in technical and economic terms. The owner of Atlanta will cost about 16.9 rubles for a kilometer of operation, and 16.1 rubles for a Ford Transit, the expert specifies.

The GAZ group explained that the analogue of an all-metal van with a short base and an average roof height in their lineup is Sobol NN, whose price starts at almost 2.7 million rubles: “This is a serial car, it is on the market, it is for sale” . “GAZ is well positioned, they have a reputation and an understandable cost of operation, therefore, in order to compete here, you must first show the best performance,” emphasizes automotive expert Vladimir Bespalov. The Transit niche has been vacated, he adds, and given the recovery in the market, the lack of new major projects and the possible replacement of UAZ Loaf sales, a 50,000-unit output “looks realistic.”

Olga Nikitina