Volkswagen halts Russian production, imports

Volkswagen AG has stopped the production of vehicles in Russia until further notice. This decision applies to the site in Kaluga, which produced the VW Tiguan, Polo and Škoda Rapid and made 118,000 vehicles last year, as well as Nizhny Novgorod, where it built VW and Škoda models under a contract with GAZ Group. Vehicle exports to Russia have also been stopped with immediate effect.

In a statement, the Volkswagen Group shares that it received the news about the war in Ukraine “with great dismay and shock.” It adds: “Volkswagen continues to hope for a cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy. We are convinced that a sustainable solution to the conflict can only be found on the basis of international law.”

With Volkswagen Group sales in Russia totalling 216,464 units in 2020, the cessation of production and imports means demand for original equipment tyres drops by almost one million units. Tyres fitted to Volkswagen vehicles made in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod were supplied by international tyre makers, with a proportion of demand satisfied from local production, as well as Russian firms such as Kama Tyres.