Nikkei reported over the weekend that Mazda Motor Corp. of Japan is considering stopping vehicle manufacturing at a joint venture plant in Vladivostok, eastern Russia.
The Japanese manufacturer, which sold 30,000 vehicles in Russia last year, announced in March that it would stop exporting parts to the factory and that production would stop when supplies were depleted. Together with Russian automaker Sollers, it runs the facility.
According to the newspaper, Mazda remains undecided whether or not to stop performing automobile sales and repairs in Russia. The Vladivostok plant's production was not scheduled to end at any certain moment.
Along with competitors Nissan and Honda, Toyota shut down production at its Saint Petersburg factory in March. Toyota maintained its staff at the time and kept the factory prepared to resume production if necessary.
"After six months, we have not been able to resume normal activities and see no indication that we can restart in the future," the company said.
Hideaki Homma, a spokesman for Toyota, stated over the phone on Saturday that the company has no plans to sell the business and will entirely discontinue manufacture. Sales of new cars will likewise stop if imports into Russia are stopped. It will be decided later how to handle the staff, he continued.
Since Moscow dispatched armed forces into Ukraine on February 24, several industries in Russia have halted production and laid off workers due to a shortage of high-tech equipment as a result of sanctions and a flight of Western businesses.
Following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the auto market in Russia plummeted, with deliveries falling by more than 80% in the months of May and June. In recent months, Avtovaz PJSC, which state entities replaced Renault SA, has boosted its sales share alongside Chinese businesses that have filled the hole left by western and Japanese brands.
Mazda Motor Corporation, also known simply as Mazda, is a global Japanese automaker with its headquarters in Fuch, Hiroshima, Japan. Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles in 2015 for global sales, roughly one million of which were made in the company's Japanese plants. The remaining vehicles were made in various other locations throughout the world. Mazda was the world's 15th-largest automaker at the time in terms of production.
Following a swift recovery from the 2009 financial crisis, Russia's automotive industry saw the start of Mazda and Sollers' manufacturing at the facility in 2012. For the Russian market, the factory produced the CX 5, Mazda 6, and a car under the Sollers brand.
