As part of plans to expand its manufacturing in Russia, Volkswagen Group will add engine production at its car assembly plant in Kaluga. Production chief Michael Macht said that 250 million euros ($314 million) will be spent so that the plant can build 600 1.6-liter gasoline engines each day starting in 2015. In 2007, Volkswagen opened its car plant in Kaluga, positioned about 170km (106 miles) southwest of Moscow. In 2011, the plant built 125,000 vehicles, which include the VW Tiguan SUV, Polo subcompact, the Skoda Octavia and Fabia. Last year, VW inked a deal with billionaire Oleg Deripaska's GAZ to make 110,000 VW and Skoda units annually at the Russian manufacturer's facility in Nizhny Novgorod, 418km east of Moscow. The Skoda Yeti SUV is the first model to be made from this collaboration. Production is set to begin later this year. Russia is on track to exceed Germany as Europe's largest car market by 2014, when total sales are predicted to increase to 3.4 million cars.
VW will build an engine plant in Russia
by Andrew Christian, Email, 29 Aug, 2012
