Mazda to Set Up New Plant in Russia's Far East

Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. has signed an agreement with the Russian Ministry for Economic Development on the construction of a new US$80 million (approx. €56 million) car plant in the far-eastern Primorsky Region, economy ministry official Dmitry Levchenkov said.

According to the agreement, the facility will produce between 25,000 and 50,000 cars per year under the old motor vehicles industrial assembly regulations of Russia. The plant is expected to start operations in mid-2012. It will produce the Mazda 6 and a new model.

Mazda has no plans to produce engines in Russia, while 30% of other components must be produced in the country under the old industrial assembly regulations, Levchenkov said.

Under the new regime introduced in Russia in the spring, car makers setting up industrial assembly in Russia will have to build a minimum of 300,000 vehicles a year for several years after starting up, while companies which already assemble vehicles at their plants in Russia will have to increase their output to 350,000 a year. The new terms also include a requirement that semi-knocked-down car production should not exceed 5% of output.