Seven months after the start of the war: Toyota stops production in Russia
Created: 09/27/2022, 09:29 am
By: Julian Baumann
Toyota will not resume production at the Saint Petersburg plant.
But that does not mean a complete withdrawal from Russia.
© Alexander Demianchuk/Imago
Seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the world's largest automaker is also withdrawing from the aggressor's country.
Stuttgart/Saint Petersburg - After the Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24, the West reacted with far-reaching sanctions against the aggressor.
Many of the big companies in the world economy also withdrew from Russia, but some very hesitantly.
Mercedes-Benz halted exports to Russia early on and Porsche boss Oliver Blume said "as long as there is war, there will be no deliveries".
The software company SAP was more hesitant in this regard, and was therefore also criticized by the Ukrainian media.
In the meantime, however, SAP has also withdrawn from Russia, as have most well-known car manufacturers.
The world's largest car company, Toyota, on the other hand, had not withdrawn from the country so far, but had paused production at the Saint Petersburg plant since March.
As the
Reuters
news agency reports, Toyota now wants to completely stop production in Russia.
Even seven months after the start of the war, this does not mean a complete withdrawal.
Toyota production in Russia has been on hold since March due to delivery problems
Production at the Russian plant of the Japanese car company has been suspended since March of this year.
The reason for this, however, is not primarily a distance from Russia, but problems with the delivery of required components in the course of the Ukraine invasion.
Since then, the situation in the plant in Saint Petersburg has been continuously evaluated and a final decision has now been made.
In concrete terms, this means that Toyota will not resume car production at the site.
Since then, Toyota has been producing the Camry mid-range model in St. Petersburg exclusively for the Russian market.
Although most car manufacturers have stopped exports to Russia since the beginning of the war, products from Mercedes, Tesla and Co. continue to reach the country.
Toyota had so far apparently hoped to be able to resume production in Saint Petersburg and therefore retained the workforce at the site, the group said.
After a six-month break and ongoing delivery problems, this is no longer possible.
The Japanese car manufacturer thanked the employees in Russia and promised support for re-employment and further training as well as financial aid that went beyond the legal requirements.
Toyota production stop in Russia does not mean a complete withdrawal
In the course of the Western sanctions against Russia, some companies have stopped doing business in the country and exporting, but others have also withdrawn for good.
The German hardware store chain Obi, for example, gave up all its Russian branches and an entrepreneur bought them for the equivalent of 10 euros.
However, Toyota's announcement is not a complete withdrawal from Russia, even if the group no longer wants to produce vehicles in Saint Petersburg in the future.
As
Automobilwoche
reports, the dealer network is to be maintained and customers will continue to have access to services.
Accordingly, Russian customers can continue to buy Toyota models, but the group has not delivered any new models to the country since March.
The world's largest manufacturer has also been hesitant about the transformation in the global auto industry.
The automaker wants to continue building internal combustion engines, which Toyota has already brought clear criticism.
