Everything was moving towards this and today, finally, it was officially announced: PJSC Sollers acquired JSC Isuzu Rus as a result of the transaction and assumed warranty obligations for the maintenance of Isuzu vehicles produced and sold in Russia.
Isuzu came to Russia in 2006 and created a joint venture with Severstal-Avto, now known as Sollers. A workshop for the local assembly of Isuzu trucks was organized in the northern part of the territory of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant. At the end of 2015, Sollers sold its share in the Russian joint venture to Isuzu, since then JSC Isuzu Rus has been controlled by the Japanese side.
In 2018, Sollers and Isuzu decided to merge again and created a separate joint venture, Isuzu Sollers, in order to conclude a special investment contract (SPIC) with the Russian government. The SPIC was successfully concluded in the same year, however, the new joint venture, in fact, did not work, including the project of the UAZ City truck on the Isuzu chassis was not implemented, because in 2019 the Ministry of Industry and Trade began legislative maneuvers with waste collection, which greatly undermined optimism Isuzu guides on the expediency of assembling cars in the Russian Federation.
The well-known geopolitical events that began in February 2022 further complicated the work of Isuzu in our country: due to sanctions and problems with the supply of components, the local business was under threat. Last fall, the Isuzu Sollers JV terminated the SPIC, and the Japanese side began to prepare for a complete withdrawal from Russia.
Today it was officially announced that Isuzu withdrew from the joint venture with Sollers PJSC and sold it to a Russian company 100% shares of Isuzu Rus JSC. Isuzu explains the reasons for leaving Russia as follows, we quote the official press release: “Due to logistical difficulties and the announced ban on the export of Isuzu car kits from Japan, deliveries to Russia were completely suspended in March 2022. The decision to transfer the Russian business was made on the basis that in the current situation it is impossible to predict the timing of the resumption of supplies and production of Isuzu cars in Russia..
According to the terms of the deal, Sollers will take supply of spare parts, warranty service and repair of Isuzu cars produced and sold in Russia, both trucks and cars. What will happen to the rather extensive Isuzu dealer network in Russia is not yet clear — probably, dealers will be offered to switch under the banner of Sollers.
Sollers will organize the production of some alternative products at the Isuzu plant in Ulyanovsk. Which one is still unknown, but with a probability close to 100%, we can expect that these will be Chinese models.
In 2021, the Isuzu plant produced about 3,700 trucks. Sales of Isuzu SUVs and pickups in the first half of 2023 due to the cessation of official deliveries decreased by 92.2% (compared to the first half of 2022) to 36 units.
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