The Blue Oval brand stands to seriously pare back its Russian presence, a new report claims, with two of the automaker’s three assembly plants rumored to close. Ford entered into a joint venture in the country in 2011, partnering with Russia’s Sollers. The two recently reached a new agreement, Sollers claims, but details remain scarce.
One person with knowledge of the pact claims Ford will cut its passenger car operations, leaving only its commercial vehicle business. More market share for the resurgent Lada, it seems.
Rumors of looming cuts have swirled since the beginning of the year. Like its European and South American businesses, Ford’s Russia venture was placed under the microscope in the company’s wide-ranging search for savings.
Speaking to Bloomberg, the source said Ford’s global restructuring plan will likely leave the automaker with just one Russian plant. The plants fingered for closure, in St. Petersburg and Tatarstan, assemble Focus, Mondeo, Fiesta and Ecosport models, while a third plant cranks out Ford commercial vehicles and a brace of utility vehicles — the Kuga and Explorer. An official announcement could come Wednesday.
Last month, the Russian industry journal AutoReview (via Wards Auto) reported that Ford’s future production efforts would consist solely of the Transit van. Existing passenger car models would either be imported or discontinued.
Russia’s new car market is on the ascent following a deep recession that cratered demand. Ford, however, hasn’t been a recipient of much of that new consumer spending. Sales never fully rebounded after volume losses of 38.2 percent in 2014 and 41.5 percent in 2015.
In 2018, Ford sales rose 5.7 percent in a market that grew by 12.8 percent, losing market share to better-selling import brands like Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia. The Blue Oval’s take of the Russian new car market was just 3 percent last year, compared to Lada’s 20 percent. The patriotic domestic brand’s sales rose 15.6 percent in 2018 on the success of the Vesta vehicle family, which recently celebrated the arrival of a new crossover.
[Image: Ford]
Behold the very apogee of rational vehicular design: the EcoSport!
It just needs to loose that dork-ass sideways hatch.
Back in the mid-2000s, the C1 platform Focus was the absolute go-to of the Russian middle class looking for a “goldilocks” golf-class sedan, competing against the Corolla and Lancer. Very popular as taxis, etc. Following the ruble’s collapse in 2014, most buyers have downgraded their shopping down to the subcompact class Kia Rio/Hyundai Solaris (Accent).
Breaking news – even Russians don’t want the Ecospurt.
“Lada opportunity here.”
Hey-O!
COTD!
It seems like Ford cannot sell cars anywhere on the globe. How about SUVs? My take is: Ford do not skip on updating existing products – update improve every 5 years. If you sell the same car unchanged for 10 years and then declare it dead of course you will loose market share. When Ford will learn? Wasn’t that the reason why AMC is dead?
Considering that Ford is losing money everywhere in the world, other than North America, they can pretty much toss a dart at a world map to decide which loss making operation to wind down next.