Volkswagen (VW) will assemble seven models at its Kaluga facilities in Russia, starting from middle-size hatchbacks to off-highway vehicles.
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VW to Assemble 7 Models in Russia
Volkswagen (VW) will assemble seven models at its Kaluga facilities in Russia. This move will enable the company to offer all product line here, starting from middle-size hatchbacks to off-highway vehicles. The general plans are to make 150,000 cars but the output will double in case of need.
Once constructed, Kaluga facilities of Volkswagen will finally assemble seven models, including three Volkswagens (Jetta, Passat and Tiguan), two Skodas (Octavia and Fabia) and a model based on VW Polo that has been developed specially for Russia, Friedrich Lenz, who is the general director of VW’s operator in Kaluga, Volkswagen Rus, made clear yesterday. Even though Mr Lenz didn’t name the seventh model, the company’s representatives had mentioned off-highway Touareg some time earlier.
The annual capacity of Kaluga plant will reach 150,000 cars. Octavia will be the first model launched in production and it is expected already in October. The assembly of Jetta and Passat will be arranged by November, Fabia will joint the league by December, Tiguan will emerge by March of 2008, while the Polo-based car will be made no earlier than in February of 2009. If necessary, Lenz said, they will produce 300,000 cars each year.
The Kaluga plant will focus on Russia’s most popular models of VW and Skoda. Judging the sales of January through July, VW leaders in Russia were Passat (5,200) and Touareg (2,700), while Jetta (2,000) and Polo (809) were the fourth and the fifth respectively. Taken for the first half of this year, Skoda’s leaders were Octavia (7,500) and Fabia (2,600).
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 24, 2007
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