AGR Automotive Group (formerly Volkswagen Group Rus)
History
2024: Appointment of Alexei Kalitsev as CEO
On January 23, 2024, Alexey Kalitsev became the new general director of AGR Automotive Group (AGR LLC), which is one of the largest car importers in Russia. In this position, he replaced Artem Kursakov, who remained to work in the group and will focus on the implementation of priority projects for the company. Read more here.
2023
Name change to AGR Automotive Group
On June 21, 2023, Volkswagen Group Rus (a former Russian subsidiary of Volkswagen) announced a name change to AGR Automotive Group. After the renaming, the company will continue its activities in the Russian market, as well as conduct a full-scale rebranding, its press service said.
It is explained that the rebranding will affect the corporate style, visual identification, as well as the dealer network of the company with more than 400 enterprises. AGR sells cars and parts. Among the company's assets are an engine plant in Kaluga, a warehouse of spare parts and accessories in Chekhov and a business in the field of financial services.
 | AGR will continue to sell cars and spare parts, and the professional team will continue to work to ensure that the company's customers have access to the widest possible range and service, AGR said in a statement. |  |
The new owner of this company is Art-Finance LLC, associated with the Avilon car dealer center. Art-Finance acquired an automobile plant in Kaluga, the importer's infrastructure, including distribution and after-sales business, as well as warehouse activities and financial services.
At the end of May 2023, Volkswagen retained control of Volkswagen Bank RUS after the sale of Russian assets. According to data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, 100% of the bank's authorized capital is still owned by the Stuttgart subsidiary of the concern - Volkswagen Financial Services AG. On the "hotline" representatives of the bank reported that they serve the previously formed loan portfolio, reported "Газета.ру" on May 27, 2023.
Thus, the German concern retained a formal presence in the Russian Federation, the report said. According to experts, by the end of May 2023, Volkswagen has not yet been able to find a buyer who could offer a decent price for this asset.[1]
The legal commission allowed the sale of the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga to the Avilon holding at a price of up to 125 million euros
The Volkswagen automaker received permission from the subcommittee of the government commission for monitoring the implementation of foreign investments to sell its Russian assets to the structures of the Avilon dealer holding at a price of up to 125 million euros. This was announced in mid-May 2023 by Interfax, citing its own source familiar with the corresponding decision of the subcommittee.
The deal does not imply a buyback option, Albert Karimov, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told reporters in May 2023.
In April 2023, it was reported that the government commission to control the implementation of foreign investments allowed the sale of the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga. The owner will be Avilon car dealer holding.
As the news agencies clarified in mid-May 2023, Avilon received permission on April 17, 2023 to acquire 100% in the Russian representative office of the automaker (Volkswagen Group Rus), as well as the companies Volkswagen Components and Services, Scania Leasing, Scania Finance and Scania Insurance. On the day the transaction was approved, its price was almost 11.3 billion rubles, and at the exchange rate as of May 16, 2023, it exceeds 10.5 billion rubles.
The interlocutor of the agency added that if Avilon needs to buy foreign currency on the domestic market to carry out the transaction, the amount of its purchase is limited to a limit of €50 million per day. On May 15, 2023, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced that the execution of the transaction for the sale of the VW plant in Kaluga to the Avilon dealer is being completed.
| | And negotiations on the technological partner are still in the process, - said the minister. Manturov stressed that "preliminary understanding exists, but there are some forks there." | |
The Volkswagen plant, located in the Grabtsevo industrial park in Kaluga, has a production capacity of 225 thousand cars per year. The company produced Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Rapid models. Also in Kaluga there was a gasoline engine plant with a capacity of 150 thousand units per year.[2]
Seizure of assets in the Nizhny Novgorod region at the suit of GAZ
The Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region decided to arrest all Volkswagen property in Russia as part of the claim of the automaker GAZ to recover 15.6 billion rubles. This was reported on March 20, 2023 by RBC with reference to a document in the file of arbitration cases. Among other things, they were arrested:
- 28.06% share of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in the authorized capital of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC;
- 16.8% of Skoda Auto A.S. in the authorized capital of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC;
- 55.14% share of Volkswagen Dinance Luxemburg S.A. in the authorized capital of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC;
- 11 objects of immovable property of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC, as well as production equipment and other movable property of the company;
- Volkswagen Group Rus LLC's share in the authorized capital of Volkswagen CS LLC, Scania Insurance LLC and Scania Finance LLC.
In addition, the court banned any registration actions related to the liquidation, reorganization, change in the composition of participants, an increase and decrease in the authorized capital of the Russian subsidiary Volkswagen and legal entities controlled by it.
The court ruling says that GAZ filed a lawsuit to impose interim measures on Volkswagen after the German concern terminated the agreement of May 2017 on the contract assembly of cars under Volkswagen trademarks at the GAZ enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod. The contract assembly agreement was valid until the end of 2025, but in March 2022, the concern publicly announced its decision to suspend the production of its cars in Russia, the plaintiff emphasizes.
GAZ believes that due to the decision, VW suffered losses in the amount of about 15.58 billion rubles, which is why it proposed to arrest 100% of the authorized capital of Volkswagen Group Rus, as well as the company's real estate and its shares in the authorized capital of subsidiaries of Russian legal entities.[3]
The beginning of the fight against parallel imports of the company's cars from China to Russia
In February 2023, Volkswagen began to fight the parallel import of its cars from China to Russia - the German newspaper Handelsblatt. At this time, "established trade routes" of not only supported, but also new cars operate between the countries.
Volkswagen has banned Chinese factories from supplying cars to Russia. To combat unwanted exports to Russia, Volkswagen has generated a system of blacklists that include Chinese wholesalers of cars seen in ties with Russia. These companies will no longer be able to purchase cars directly from Chinese joint ventures.
2022
New head of the Russian representative office of Volkswagen Gerrit Spengler appointed
On September 15, 2022, it became known about the appointment of Gerrit Spengler as the new general director of the Russian representative office of Volkswagen. In this post, he replaced Stefan Mekha, who had been in charge of the company since early 2021. Read more here.
Discussion of the sale of the plant in Kaluga Kazakhstan "Asia Auto"
In July 2022, it became known that Volkswagen could sell its plant in Kaluga to Asia Auto from Kazakhstan. The presence of a license for the production of Volkswagen and Skoda cars will allow the new owners to completely preserve production in Russia, and the German concern to withdraw from direct ownership of the asset in order to avoid sanctions from the United States and the European Union.
Offer of 6 salaries at dismissal of employees in Nizhny Novgorod
In June 2022, Volkswagen offered its employees in Nizhny Novgorod to voluntarily quit, receiving up to six salaries. This is the first known voluntary care program since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine.
Volkswagen offered its employees in Nizhny Novgorod to voluntarily quit, receiving up to six salaries.
We are talking about 200 employees of the Volkswagen/Skoda contract assembly based on the GAZ group. The site has been idle since March and the release is unlikely to resume due to US sanctions against GAZ.
No plans to resume car production in Russia in the near future
Volkswagen will not resume car production in Russia in the near future. This is stated in a letter signed by the head of the Volkswagen passenger cars brand, Michael Arndt, which was received by Russian dealers in May 2022.
Stopping the supply of cars in Russia
At the end of February 2022, Volkswagen stopped the supply of cars to Russian dealers. As explained in the press service of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC, we are talking only about cars that are already in the Russian Federation. There was no information about the restriction of supplies from abroad, the company noted in a conversation with Interfax.
In February 2022, Volkswagen at the Grabtsevo Technopark in Kaluga was forced to stop work due to interruptions in foreign supplies. The timing of the resumption of production was not reported then.
The Russian representative office of Volkswagen combines the work of seven brands of the concern on the Russian market: Volkswagen cars, Volkswagen commercial cars,,, and Skoda Audi Lamborghini. Bentley Ducati Deliveries of all these models have been suspended.
The engines produced by Volkswagen in the Russian Federation are used not only in Russia, but also sent for export, including to EU countries, as well as to India. The total production of engines in 2021 amounted to 96.1 thousand.
According to the automobile portal "Drom," which are given on February 28, 2022, in Russia in recent days there has been a rush of demand and an increase in prices for cars. Experts of the publication note that since February 24, cars in Russia have risen in price by 13%, and the average cost of a car has reached 1.45 million rubles. Every second seller raised prices by 20-30% before the weekend, but on Saturday - Sunday (February 26-27, 2022) they were moderately adjusted. The largest demand is for cars of the mass segment worth up to 600,000 rubles.
Experts expect that if no one else joins automakers that have already announced the suspension of shipments, the Russian market may miss about 40,000 cars in 2022.[4]
Suspension of car exports to the Russian Federation against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine
On February 28, 2022, information appeared that against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Volkswagen, General Motors were suspending the export of cars to Russia.
2021
Revenue - 354.8 billion rubles, net profit - 4.8 billion rubles
At the end of 2021, Volkswagen's Russian subsidiary got rid of losses, receiving a net profit of 4.8 billion rubles. In 2020, net losses of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC were measured at 16.8 billion rubles, according to data that appeared in the SPARK-Interfax system in April 2022. The reporting is in accordance with Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).
In 2021, Volkswagen Group Rus revenue reached 354.8 billion rubles, which is 11% more than sales a year ago. During this time, the company's cost of sales rose by 9.3%, to 333.6 billion rubles, and gross profit increased by 47.5%, to 21.2 billion rubles. The loss from sales in 2021 amounted to 391 million rubles against 10.4 billion rubles of such a loss in 2020.
The company's commercial expenses in 2021 decreased by 15.5% compared to 2020, to 17.9 billion rubles, managerial expenses increased by 3.5%, to 3.7 billion rubles. At the end of 2021, the long-term obligations of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC increased to 17.2 billion rubles from 11 billion rubles at the end of 2020. Short-term liabilities fell by 40.2% to 69.9 billion rubles.
The Interfax agency "" cites data European Business Associations (AEB), according to which Russia 197,972 cars under the brand were sold in 2021, Volkswagen which is 8.2% less than in the previous year. The share of the German automaker in the Russian car market on an annualized basis dropped by 1.6 percentage points, to 11.9%, according to AEB data.
By April 2022, Volkswagen Group Rus combines seven brands of the concern on the Russian market: Volkswagen Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Cars, Skoda, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati.[5]
Reduction in car production by 5% to 118 thousand units
The production of Volkswagen cars in Russia in 2021 decreased by 5% compared to 2020 - up to 118 thousand units. This was reported by the Avtostat agency with reference to the press service of Volkswagen Group Rus.
It is noted that in 2021, about 52.3 thousand cars were assembled at the enterprise of the German automaker in Nizhny Novgorod, which is 10% less than a year ago. 11.5 thousand Russian-made Volskwagen cars were exported, which is 10% higher than the result of 2020.
Sales of the most massive Volkswagen model of Russian production - the compact Polo liftback - in 2021 amounted to 46.9 thousand copies (-20% by 2020). The implementation of the Tiguan crossover decreased by 11% to 29.2 thousand cars. The compact Volkswagen Taos crossover went on sale in July 2021 and sold more than 4 thousand units by the end of the year.
Skoda The bestseller on the Russian market in 2021 was the Rapid compact liftback with a result of 41.7 thousand cars sold (+ 18%). The second most popular was the compact crossover Skoda Karoq, whose sales grew by 25% and amounted to 19.5 thousand units. The third place is taken by the Kodiaq crossover, which was chosen by 16.2 thousand Russian buyers (-21%). The fourth place is taken by the fourth generation Skoda Octavia, which was bought by 12.2 thousand people.
In 2021, the production of a new compact crossover Volkswagen Taos began at GAZ's facilities. About 6 billion rubles were invested in this project.
On February 24, 2022, Volkswagen stopped accepting orders in Russia for one of its most popular models - the Passat sedan. It could be purchased at a price of 2.7 million to 3.1 million rubles. Until the summer of 2022, only the off-road modification - Passat Alltrack will remain on sale.[6]
2020
In 2020 Volkswagen , Group Rus sales in the Russian market amounted to 216,464 cars. In 2020, 182,200 cars were produced at the company's production sites To Kaluga : 124,000 cars were produced at the company's plant, and Nizhny Novgorod 58,200 cars were produced at the production site. The market share of VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus LLC at the end of 2020 reached 14.1%.
2019
Volkswagen doubles net profit in Russia
The Russian representative office of Volkswagen Group in 2019 received revenue in the amount of 330.88 billion rubles (according to RAS), which is 14% more than a year earlier. At the same time, net profit doubled and reached 17.99 billion rubles, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the company's reporting.
Volkswagen Group RUS ended 2019 with a sales cost of 276.83 billion rubles, which is 13.5% higher than a year ago. Gross profit increased by 19% and reached 54.06 billion rubles.
The company's commercial and management expenses increased by 13% and 48% to 45.51 and 12.66 billion rubles, respectively. Profit from sales in 2019 turned out to be equal to 889.6 million rubles, an increase of 5% compared to 2018. Profit before taxes doubled to 22.5 billion rubles.[7]
It also follows from the reporting that Volkswagen's receivables in Russia in 2019 increased by 30%, to 17.37 billion rubles, long-term liabilities decreased by 57.5%, to 10.537 billion rubles, and short-term, on the contrary, increased by 29%, to 114.367 billion rubles, of which payables in the amount of 83.943 billion rubles increased by 11% in annual terms.
Russian Volkswagen dealers sold 104,386 cars in 2019 - 1.6% less than a year earlier. Volkswagen's bestseller on the Russian market remains the Polo sedan - 56,102 buyers (-5.6%) opted for this model last year.
In second place in the Volkswagen lineup is the Tiguan crossover with 37,432 cars sold in 2019, which is 11.6% higher than a year ago. The owners of the Touareg SUVs were 5779 customers (+ 23%), and the brand's largest model , the Teramont SUV, was chosen by 2595 consumers (the manufacturer's own data).
Review of Volkswagen assets in Russia
VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus was a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and combined seven brands of the concern on the Russian market: Volkswagen - cars, Audi, ŠKODA, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati and Volkswagen Commercial cars.
Before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, Volkswagen assembled cars in Russia at sites in Nizhny Novgorod and Kaluga. Volkswagen's main production site in Russia was located in the Grabtsevo technopark in Kaluga. On the territory of the enterprise there was an automobile production of Volkswagen and Skoda, as well as a plant for the production of 1.6 MPI EA211 series gasoline engines. For 2019, Volkswagen Tiguan, Volkswagen Polo and Skoda Rapid models were produced at the automobile plant, its maximum production capacity was 225 thousand cars per year.
Volkswagen plans investments in Russia in the amount of about 20 billion rubles
Volkswagen plans to invest about 20 billion rubles in production in Russia. This was announced in April 2019 by the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation [[ Manturov Denis Valentinovich 'Denis Manturov]].
| | "In general, Volkswagen has already invested more than €2 billion in the Russian economy and Volkswagen plans to further increase its investment - about 20 billion rubles at least," he said. - As for the special investment contract, the topic related to the entry of [Volkswagen] into GAZ is not discussed separately. Here we are talking, firstly, about investments in the framework of those technological areas that we are discussing with colleagues. First of all, it concerns the engine and the gearbox (gearshift). " | |
Manturov also noted that within the framework of [8] a [9], which may be signed with the company in the near future, it is planned to increase the production of automotive components in Russia.
| | "First of all, as I said, it's about engines and boxes. But the second direction, for us, is very important - auto-component production. Colleagues are now also negotiating with their partners, who are manufacturers of auto components for Volkswagen, for their arrival and localization of their production in Russia. This is the main thing that was discussed and what is now at the exit from the point of view of the readiness of the document in the form of a special investment contract, "he said. | |
2015
Volkswagen in 2015, which ranks second in the Russian market with a share of over 11%, reduced sales.
"If 275 thousand 800 cars were sold in Russia in the period January-December 2014, then in 2015 - only 174 thousand 300 cars. The decline in sales was 36.8%, "the Russian division of Volkswagen said in a statement.
Notes
- ↑ Former Russian "daughter" Volkswagen changed its name
- ↑ Avilon's purchase of Russian VW assets agreed at a price of up to 125 million euros
- ↑ Nizhny Novgorod court arrested Volkswagen assets in Russia
- ↑ Volkswagen in the Russian Federation stopped shipping cars to dealers within the country
- ↑ VW subsidiary in Russia increased annual revenue by 11%
- ↑ Volkswagen Group Rus in 2021 produced more than 170 thousand cars in Russia
- ↑ Volkswagen in Russia in 2019 doubled its net profit under RAS
- ↑ SPIKSPIK -
- ↑ form of agreement between the state and investors, the purpose of which is to stimulate the localization of production in Russia. Under this contract, the investor undertakes to make investments in the creation, modernization or development of production in the Russian Federation in exchange for the invariability of tax conditions. The mechanism has been in effect since 2015.
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