In early July, the German auto giant Volkswagen actually returned to the Russian market. The company began selling its cars in Russia under the Jetta brand. This was reported by the German publication Die Zeit.
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The Jetta car, a sub-brand created by Volkswagen and FAW for the Chinese market in 2019, has officially gone on sale in Russia.
The Jetta VS5 is very similar to the Volkswagen Tiguan, and the Jetta VA3 has much in common with the Volkswagen Polo. Until 2022, these models were assembled at the Russian plant in Kaluga.
The Jetta brand offers adapted versions of the original models created for China. Production is carried out by the Chinese concern FAW using German components.
Jetta cars have been imported to Russia for a long time under the “parallel import” program, but a few weeks ago, Jetta Motors officially informed Russian media about the start of official sales.
Jetta reportedly launched the official website of Jetta Motors Russia, registered to FAW Osteuropa GmbH (OOO “FAW-Eastern Europe”), a subsidiary of China FAW Group Import & Export Co. – this is the same FAW group that, together with Volkswagen, assembles cars in China.
FAW Osteuropa GmbH is responsible for deliveries of cars to Russia, a company representative said in response to a request from German journalists. And it is the official importer of Jetta in Russia.
That is, in fact, the cars were brought to the Russian market by Volkswagen's Chinese partner (VW Group).
What Volkswagen says
At the same time, Volkswagen itself said that they know nothing about business in Russia and that neither VW Group China nor joint ventures export cars to the aggressor country.
However, as the publication writes, “it does not seem very plausible” that this is being done without the knowledge of the German side. Interestingly, the Jetta website stopped working after Die Zeit correspondents sent a request to the German company.
Recall
The Volkswagen carmaker announced its withdrawal from the Russian market a few weeks after the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, the German company sold its plant in Kaluga for 160 million euros.