Russia, the country where Shoviet Shub captain Sean Connery learned to fish, might be on the verge of a modest economic rebound.
After tanking hard in the wake of collapsing oil prices, the country’s rickety economic state prompted many automakers to abandon plans for production growth or pull up stakes altogether. General Motors was a noted casualty, though Lada sailed through the turmoil in fine shape.
Early last year, it seemed as if parent Daimler would head west instead of building a Mercedes plant in the Motherland. However, that’s no longer the case, according to the country’s trade and industry minister.
Daimler will soon sign off on a new plant near Moscow, Denis Manturov told Business World (via Automotive News Europe). Construction on the new facility should begin next year.
Last year, Handelsblatt reported that Daimler’s plan was to assemble 30,000 SUVs a year from kits shipped to Russia. Fierce rival BMW already does the same thing, while Audi taps a local Volkswagen plant for production of premium vehicles. While the global growth rate of the Mercedes brand is double that of BMW, Daimler wants to ensure it stays that way.
According to Reuters, Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin forecasts economic growth of 2 percent in 2017, assuming there’s no steep slide in oil prices. Daimler want to get its mitts on those extra rubles.
[Image: © 2016 Steve Lynch/The Truth About Cars]
“Give me a ping, Vasili. One ping only, please.”
It’s said that you can watch a great movie 100 times and catch something new in it every time.
And then we have “Hunt For Red October,” which you can watch 1,000 times, never see anything new in, and enjoy anyway.
Outstanding movie.
One of the best Cold-War era movies ever.
Always enjoy Connery’s performance in Red OchNoSir.
Nothing like a Soviet sub commander with a thick Scottish burr in his voice.
Not quite as bad however as Highlander. Where Connery plays the Spaniard with his thick Scottish accent, while the ‘Highlander’ played by Christopher Lambert has some indecipherable EuroTrash accent.
Just who makes these casting decisions and is there no such thing as a dialect coach any longer?
He’s Sean Connery. You go with it.
Mike, In actuality I do agree. Better Connery with his brogue than just about any other actor.
The Man Who Would Be King with him and his great friend Michael Caine is one of my all-time favourites. Early in their careers Connery and Caine roomed together.
I always wondered where the perfect diction a la “Marnie” and the Bond franchise disappeared to? Possibly the strength of Hitchcock on the former and the zeroes on the check for the latter? I think he sounds like he hasn’t spit the toothpaste out. After that bizarre cat burglar movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones I realized he retired 25 years ago but continued to get paid to show up.
Some folks have difficulty adjusting to and speaking clearly with dentures. I believe that Sean is one of them.
“Shoviet Shub captain Sean Connery ”
OK I LOLed (really.)
“though Lada sailed through the turmoil in fine shape”
Hardly surprising, back in the ’09 financial crisis, the last of the old Fiat-based “Klassika” rwd Ladas (the cheapest thing Lada sells) were getting snapped up like no other. In the current situation where the ruble collapsed and lost half its value against the dollar, all the domestic options (Lada and UAZ, GAZ) look all the more attractive.
We need more TTAC contributions from this region. I’ve always been fascinated by Eastern block autos-the Top Gear episode covering them is one of my favorite. One of my friends form HS is from Slovenia , and his Lada stories were hilarious. He lives there currently but it seems to be too Western automotive-wise.
I don’t live there, but I visit family in Siberia every few years in the summer. Most folks that can afford it in bigger cities have like your friend moved on to modern European/German/Korean vehicles (predominantly RHD Japanese imports east of the Urals), but the deeper you go into the agrarian and to a certain degree poorer’rust belt’ industrial areas, old Ladas still have a very large (if not majority) presence. Volgas are everywhere too (mostly 3110 models, but still many 24/24-10 and even a few 21s) , the moskvitches are still around too, in limited numbers. Soviet-era trucks are also still common as dirt, toiling away.
https://goo.gl/maps/MzCBPCrjxxv
https://goo.gl/maps/KFiQCtjcEno
https://goo.gl/maps/HSYtpQ5u78M2
https://goo.gl/maps/4xRALHHAHXu
Can someone recall what season and episode of Top Gear that was?
“… Shoviet Shub captain Sean Connery”
That’s a really stupid way to open an article, but it took me a long look and twice to say it right, so I’m good with it!
I approve, even though I’m not big on schtick.
Those Moscow girls make me sing and shout, they leave the West behind.
Russia’s economy collapsed not so much from the oil prices drop, but from the feudal policies ran there since Putin’s third term, plus the sanctions for occupying a foreign country’s land. The decline started in 2011-2013, March 2014 was just a distraction.
For Mercedes the move makes sense. They reach deep into their heritage, back to when they provided their limos to Hitler and his minions. So yeah, in that sense a factory near Moscow makes perfect sense.
Literally Hitler! /s
I think your post is about right. The Russian economy went down since about 2012-2014 primarily because it was too reliant on the mineral exports. In reality, the western sanctions were targeted only at very specific people, such as the ones involved in invading Ukraine territory. So these people couldn’t travel to the west any more or obtain western financing for their companies. Those sanctions were really minuscule. But the Russian state used its media machine to place the blame for all of its economic downturn on the USA and its allies because of their sanctions. Average Russian people feel the pain from the economic downturn, but they mostly agree with the state that it was “sanctions”‘s fault.
Well, it does seem that Russia will be one of the only politically correct trade partners for the United States in the near future (along with the U.K.). With the EU out, China out, and anywhere where the people are brown or black out, there aren’t many other options left.
“anywhere where the people are brown or black”
Well, we heavily traded with those places once before and got the Old South. Plus the people there are no longer so impressed with rum, textiles, beads or small arms.
Ramius was actually Lithuanian, not Russian. Just say’…