New Volvo Group assembly plant for Kaluga, Russia

At a ground-breaking ceremony today, the foundation stone was laid for the Volvo Group’s new assembly plant in Kaluga, Russia, which will produce trucks for both Volvo Trucks and Renault Trucks when it opens in early 2009.

Volvo Group’s deliveries to the Russian market have increased considerably in recent years. Demand continues to be very strong and the Volvo Group is now building a new assembly plant in Kaluga, an investment of about 100 million euros (£ 70m).

Located approximately 200 kilometres south-west of Moscow, the Kaluga plant’s production capacity will total approximately 10,000 Volvo and 5,000 Renault trucks per year, in order to meet the sharply rising demand for heavy duty trucks in Russia and the CIS countries (Commonwealth of Independent States). The factory is expected to provide work for more than 1,000 employees.

The President of Volvo Trucks, Staffan Jufors and Stefano Chmielewsky, President of Renault Trucks, participated in the ceremony together with Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of the Kaluga region, Elvira Nabiullina, Russian Trade and Economic Development Minister and Johan Molander, the Ambassador of Sweden to the Russian Federation.

Volvo Trucks’ deliveries to the Russian market have increased from about 500 units in 2003 to about 2,500 last year. Demand continues to be very strong this year, with 2,600 vehicles already delivered by the end of August. Currently, Volvo Trucks has 35 authorised service locations and 20 sales offices throughout Russia.

Renault Trucks deliveries have reached a total of 533 units in 2006 on the Russian market and 608 new trucks have already been delivered by end of august this year, which represents a double of its sales results in comparison with last year. Currently, Renault Trucks Vostok is operating through a 19 dealer’s network, which has been built at a rapid pace since 2004, the date of establishment of the market company on the Russian market.

The vehicles to be assembled at the plant include the Volvo FH, FM and FL and FE models, together with the Renault Premium and Kerax.

In addition, Volvo Construction Equipment will secure manufacturing space in Kaluga. Although firm plans have yet to be agreed, it is expected that the site will provide for machine assembly, a limited amount of manufacturing and storage. Production is expected to begin after 2010 and the first products off the line are expected to excavators.