The car group Stellantis, created a year ago as a result of the merger of the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, allows the transfer of production from Russia in case of negative consequences due to sanctions. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal with reference to the head of the concern Carlos Tavares, informs Interfax.
The main production asset of the Stellantis Group in Russia is the PSMA Rus plant, located in the Rosva Industrial Park in Kaluga, which has been producing full-cycle cars since 2012. Investments in the project are at the level of 550 million euros. Stellantis owns 70% of the company’s shares, another 30% belong to Mitsubishi.
The plant produces Peugeot 408 and Citroen C4 cars, Peugeot, Opel and Citroen vans, as well as Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo and Opel Combo minibuses and compact vans. Mitsubishi assembles Outlander and Pajero Sport SUVs at PSMA Rus.
According to the WSJ, Tavares notes that he is still unsure how the sanctions could affect Stellantis’ production at the Kaluga plant. It follows from the announcement of the publication that the statements were made on Wednesday, it is about the possible consequences of sanctions in connection with the recognition of DNR and LNR.
“If the reality is that we will not be able to supply the plant, we will be forced to either transfer this production to other plants, or face restrictions,” Tavares said.
The WSJ recalls that production at the Kaluga plant doubled in 2021, reaching 11,000 light commercial vehicles. Since the end of last year, the plant has increased production for export to Western Europe, began assembling Peugeot Expert, Opel Vivaro and Citroen Jumpy for export markets. In addition, Stellantis announced that in 2022 Russia will begin assembling manual transmissions and Fiat Scudo cars for export.
Tavares, who is due to present the Stellantis 2030 strategy next week, said geopolitical risks affect the way the company makes its decisions. “The automotive industry has been influenced by geopolitics many times in recent decades,” Tavares was quoted as saying by the WSJ.
According to the Association of European Business (AEB), Stellantis sales in Russia in 2021 increased by 64.7% to 18,526 vehicles.
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