MOSCOW - A brand new $2.7-billion joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Russian automaker Sollers, established in February, will export automobiles to Western Europe when it begins operation in early 2012, in keeping with a spokesperson within the Russian government.
The brand new enterprise will produce six fashions, including passenger and light business vehicles, and will also embody stamping, engine assembly and R&D activities.
Vadim Shvetsov, principal owner of Sollers, which owns a 60-% stake in the new company, called Ford Sollers, said that car exports from Russia would enable the venture "to combine into the global automotive industry."
The potential for European distribution was a important factor for Sollers, which bypassed its original associate Fiat in favor of Ford.
Ford at present operates an assembly plant in Vsevolozhsk, Russia (just outside St. Petersburg), and Sollers has services in Naberezhnye Chelny and Yelabuga. The partners additionally plan to construct an engine plant in Tatarstan by 2014, with the capability to produce about 200,000 engines a 12 months, each for the Russian market and for export to Ford factories in Western Europe.
Whole price of the mission is estimated at $2.7 billion, of which $1.2 billion is expected to be offered by the Russian Financial institution for Development and Overseas Economic Affairs. Another $500 million is anticipated to be allotted by the partners, whereas the remaining $1 billion will likely be drawn from the future income of the company.
The brand new enterprise will produce six fashions, including passenger and light business vehicles, and will also embody stamping, engine assembly and R&D activities.
Vadim Shvetsov, principal owner of Sollers, which owns a 60-% stake in the new company, called Ford Sollers, said that car exports from Russia would enable the venture "to combine into the global automotive industry."
The potential for European distribution was a important factor for Sollers, which bypassed its original associate Fiat in favor of Ford.
Ford at present operates an assembly plant in Vsevolozhsk, Russia (just outside St. Petersburg), and Sollers has services in Naberezhnye Chelny and Yelabuga. The partners additionally plan to construct an engine plant in Tatarstan by 2014, with the capability to produce about 200,000 engines a 12 months, each for the Russian market and for export to Ford factories in Western Europe.
Whole price of the mission is estimated at $2.7 billion, of which $1.2 billion is expected to be offered by the Russian Financial institution for Development and Overseas Economic Affairs. Another $500 million is anticipated to be allotted by the partners, whereas the remaining $1 billion will likely be drawn from the future income of the company.
