Former Mercedes Benz plant in Moscow region to start manufacturing Exeed branded vehicles - newspaper
MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - The former Mercedes-Benz plant in Yesipov near Moscow will begin mass production of Exeed cars, a premium segment sub-brand of Chinese automaker Chery, under a contract assembly agreement in July, Kommersant reported, citing sources.
The serial assembly of Exeeds will begin with the VX model, the newspaper said. One source said that shipments of the first cars from this production run should begin in August. This is a contract assembly project, and Avtodom will be paid for each car it assembles, the newspaper reported. One source mentioned an amount in the range of 450-500 euros per car kit. The second model should hit the production line in February 2025.
According to the declaration data, Chery Automobiles Rus LLC received declarations of conformity for mass-produced Exeed M51 (model TXL) and M52 (model VX) cars manufactured by the company itself, while the plant, MB Rus Manufacturing is listed as the former production site of Mercedes in Russia, which was sold to Avtodom. There is also a declaration that lists a wider range of Chery models and sub-brands equipped with the same SQRF4J20C engine used in the Exeed VX and TXL models, as well as the Jaecoo J8 and Chery Tiggo.
Avtodom general director Andrei Olkhovsky told Kommersant that the company has several parallel projects in place for the development of the plant with agreements already in place. "The number of partners is much larger than just the Chery group. We are ready to assemble for the Chery Group under contract as well, if necessary," he said. The plant will simultaneously produce four to six models, he said. Chery declined to comment.
According to Avtostat, Exeed is now the most popular premium brand in Russia. Sales of Exeed reached almost 3,900 units in May, while the agency estimates that sales in the entire premium segment reached 11,000 units for the month.
Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said in June that the "first investor" at the Yesipov site had already assembled the first 300 cars last month. "This is a serious company; one of the leaders in the Chinese market. It wants to reach a volume of 100,000-120,000 units, including electric cars," Vorobyov said in an interview at SPIEF-2024.
Other players are also interested in producing Chery vehicles, Kommersant said. AGR Group (which combines the former Russian assets of Hyundai and Volkswagen) also received a declaration for the serial production of Chery cars at the former VW site in Kaluga. The declaration states that the car model planned for production is a T31 type car, with AGR indicated as the manufacturer. The newspaper's sources say that there is no certainty regarding this project. AGR did not comment.
Chery has repeatedly stated that production localization is a possibility. Chery Automobiles Rus reported in 2023 that it is not abandoning these plans and vehicles are being imported from China "while the company searches for, and prepares production sites." So far, Chery cars have been produced at the former Nissan plant in St. Petersburg, now part of AvtoVAZ, but under a different brand and without Chery participating in sales of the vehicles.
Avtostat's Sergei Udalov said that the organization of any type of vehicle assembly line creates localization potential, which would make it possible to claim benefits and compensation, as well as supply premium cars to government agencies. The premium segment is traditionally more stable and reacts more slowly to changes in the market, which makes volumes relatively predictable, he said.