by At the beginning of March, Toyota stopped supplying cars to Russia and halted its St. Petersburg plant. It has now become known that Toyota is shutting down the plant in St. Petersburg – the site will be mothballed.
The sale of the plant is already being discussed, although finding a buyer under current market conditions will be difficult, local media reports. In any case, Toyota car production will not be resumed here.
Recall that Toyota opened its full-cycle Russian plant (with welding and painting of bodies) in December 2007, and initially only Camry sedans were produced here. In 2015, the production capacity of the enterprise was increased from 50,000 to 100,000 cars annually, and in August 2016, the production of Toyota RAV4 crossovers began. In addition to the domestic market, Russian-assembled cars were sold in Kazakhstan and Belarus. In 2021, 80.8 thousand cars rolled off the assembly line. Since March this year, the plant was idle, and employees were paid two-thirds of their salary.
In addition to closing the plant, Toyota will downsize its Moscow office. Dealers themselves, without official supplies of new cars, began importing vehicles through other channels in the summer. Some showrooms already have Toyota and Lexus cars brought in from Kazakhstan, the UAE, and even Europe. Moreover, there are models in the range that were never officially sold in Russia…
Recall that due to sanctions and the departure of foreign car companies from Russia, a new Kia Sportage 2022 is being sold at the price of a Porsche Cayenne in Russia.
