To take a stand against Russia which has decided to invade its neighbor Ukraine, Stellantis has decided during 2022 to stop local production. However, it seems that in reality the assembly operations of some Citroen models in the country led by Vladimir Putin is proceeding in a roundabout way: the Russians are in fact using Chinese partners to build models of the French brand within national borders, Reuters reports.
Chinese partners
How? Basically, in December last year the Russian company Automotive Technologies imported at least 42 car kits to assemble the Citroen C5 Aircross model at the Kaluga plant, which is still majority owned by Stellantis. And it seems that these kits were produced in China by the local Dongfeng. It is not clearReuters explains, whether the kits originating from China contained parts that fall within the scope of Western sanctions against Russia, of which Beijing is not part, and whether Stellantis was actually aware of these imports.
Inactive factory
We remind you that Stellantis owns 70% of the plant Kaluga, the remaining 30% is held by Mitsubishi Motors. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led the Italian-French group to stop production there, the factory assembled models of the Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Mitsubishi brands, with a annual capacity of 125,000 vehicles.
Parallel imports
At the moment all the companies potentially involved in this “parallel import” program have preferred not to comment on the matter. For the record, however, it should be noted that the Automotive Technologiesa company registered in Moscow in March 2023 and 100% owned by Galina Dolgolenko, said late last year that it was assembling a pilot batch of 48 imported cars, ahead of mass production which will start this yearwithout however naming the supplier or model of the car.
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