Production Of Five BMW Models Will Stop In Russia

BMW will seriously reduce the number of cars produced in Russia. Due to economic inexpediency, the brand refused to produce five models at the Avtotor plant. This was announced by the chairman of the board of directors of Avtotor Holding LLC Valery Gorbunov, writes Finmarket.

• At a press conference dedicated to the results of 2020, Gorbunov spoke about a decrease in production at the plant. In total, almost 157 thousand vehicles (including komtrans) were produced, which is 27% less than in 2019. The decline was lower than forecast, but management has “worst” expectations for 2021.
• Regarding BMW's plans, he did not disclose details, but the Autoreview edition managed to find out the details. So, since April, only BMW X5, X6 and X7 will remain on the assembly line of the Kaliningrad Avtotor. Other models will be fully imported - these are 5 and 7 series sedans, as well as the X1, X3 and X4 crossovers.
• At the same time, the option of supplying directly from the American plant is reserved for the remaining Xs, that is, subsequently the company can completely curtail production in Russia.

• Avtotor started car production in 1997 and currently produces about 40 models of the brands BMW, Kia, Hyundai and Ford. The Bavarian brand has been cooperating with the plant since 1999, the first localized model was the 5th series of the E39 generation.
• At the beginning of the year, information appeared that BMW was again thinking about building its own plant in Russia. The company became aware of such plans back in 2019, but later it was reported that the decision was recognized as economically unprofitable. However, according to the latest information, BMW still did not abandon this idea.