June 20, in the industrial park "Esipovo" Solnechnogorsk region. The event was attended by the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov and the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov. About what the future plant of the German auto concern will be like and how production will be carried out within its walls, read the material on the portalmosreg.ru.

The ceremony of laying the first stone in the foundation of the Mercedes-Benz passenger car plant was held on June 20 in the Esipovo industrial park of the Solnechnogorsk region. The solemn event was attended by the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, Member of the Board of the Mercedes-Benz Cars division responsible for production and supply chain management, Markus Schaefer and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Russian Federation Rudiger von Fria. Before the ceremony, the guests examined the cars that will be produced at the plant.

How it all began

“Today is a solemn and exciting day for us. Probably the same as for Mercedes. There are more than 200 German companies operating in the Moscow region - large, family, small, all of them successful. I will not hide that the President of our country was especially inspired when Mercedes approached us. He blessed. We offered Mercedes special conditions, ”Vorobyov said during the ceremony.

Plant construction

The construction of the new plant will start from. As the Governor noted, this is the most complex facility with expensive equipment. During the construction of the facility, Mercedes-Benz management relies on the so-called fully flexible assembly. It is assumed that the plant will establish a full-cycle production of cars and premium SUVs, including the localization of such technological operations as welding, painting, car assembly, as well as the execution of a chain of logistics operations.

The production capacity of the plant will be designed for maximum flexibility so that multiple vehicle platforms can be efficiently produced on a single line. The enterprise will provide for the concept of handling and production equipment. The components will be delivered to sections of the assembly line throughout the workshop by automatic self-propelled carts, due to which it is possible to effectively integrate various types and modifications of the body, as well as their derivatives, into mass production. And thanks to the so-called one roof concept, transport routes between production sites are shortened, production cycle times are optimized and distances in production for employees are reduced.

Production and prospects

The technical launch of the plant is expected at the end of 2018, at the beginning of 2019 from the assembly line of the enterprise. The "Muscovy" will produce cars in a flexible mode. The company plans to start production with E-class sedans. Then, the production of SUVs GLE, GLC and GLS will be gradually established. The Daimler concern guarantees investments of over 250 million euros. The production will be in charge of the newly created Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Rus (MBMP) under the leadership of Axel Benze.

As Vorobyov noted earlier, thanks to the construction and launch of the production of the German auto giant on the territory of the Moscow region, it will be created. In the future, training of highly qualified personnel for work at the plant will begin in the Moscow region. Currently, the regional authorities are engaged in adaptation aimed at teaching students how to work with robotics.

Nadezhda Osodoeva

Now all Mercedes-Benz cars sold in Russia are imported. Local enterprises place only orders for the production of low-tonnage Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

Daimler has been looking for a site for a plant for two years. Among them were named St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Tatarstan, Sverdlovsk region, Moscow (at the facilities of the former ZIL automobile plant) and the Moscow region. In April 2015, the head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, said that the industrial assembly of Mercedes cars in Russia could be organized according to the General Motors quota, which left the Russian market in March of the same year. However, no final decision was made.

Analysts do not undertake to estimate the size of the investment in the Mercedes plant. The amount will depend on the level of localization of production, Bespalov notes. “If a“ screwdriver ”assembly of cars is established there, it will be $ 10-15 million. With painting, welding and stamping, we can talk about hundreds of millions of dollars," Bespalov said. For example, in 2014, BMW planned to build its own plant with a capacity of up to 80 thousand cars in the Kaliningrad region for € 1.5 billion, said then the president of the Kaliningrad plant Avtotor (collects Kia, Hyundai and BMW cars under the contract) Valery Draganov. But later, during the crisis, BMW postponed the decision to build the plant indefinitely.

The crisis is not a hindrance

The majority of automakers built their production facilities in Russia from 2005 to 2013 (the last was the Mazda assembly plant in Vladivostok of the Sollers group of Vadim Shvetsov was opened). Since 2013, automakers have only been upgrading equipment and building auxiliary facilities. For example, at the end of 2015, Ford Sollers and Volkswagen opened engine factories with investments of $ 275 million and € 250 million.

Daimler plans to build a plant amid the collapse of the Russian car market. Since 2013, when stagnation began, the local market has almost halved. At the end of last year alone, sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) decreased by almost 36%, to 1.6 million units, in January-May 2016 - by another 14%, to 548 thousand vehicles. Mercedes sales for the same time decreased by 15 and 17% respectively - to 41.6 thousand and 15.8 thousand cars.

In general, in 2016, according to PwC, the fall in the car market could be 15%, according to Vladimir Bespalov from VTB Capital - 5-10%.

Mercedes' sales are not falling at the same pace as the rest of the market, and its own plant will reduce Daimler's costs and increase profitability, Bespalov explains. In addition, local production will allow the brand to participate in government purchases (now officials and civil servants are prohibited from buying cars manufactured outside of Russia), adds Avtostat executive director Sergei Udalov.

Other automakers operating in the Russian market have not yet announced investment plans.

The representative of AvtoVAZ (the largest Russian automaker) says that the plant already has enough capacity (more than 1 million vehicles; utilization is about 40%). The Togliatti Automobile Plant has been optimizing its personnel since 2014; to date, about 27 thousand people have left the enterprise. In addition, since February of this year, AvtoVAZ has been operating in a four-day working week, and since June 6, it has announced additional downtime on individual conveyors.

Volvo Cars also does not plan to open production (it does not have its own facilities in Russia), the press service of the company said. A KIA spokesman notes that the company already assembles almost all models in Russia (except for the Picanto): "In the current market situation, we have no plans to expand production or build new production sites in Russia." Other automakers did not respond to RBC's inquiries.

One of the largest automakers operating in Russia, the Volkswagen concern, has reached the required level of localization stipulated by the industrial assembly agreement, said the head of the Russian representative office of the auto concern Markus Ozegovich. The company has not yet announced plans to increase the level of localization.

Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus (assembles Hyundai and Kia cars) announced that in 2016 about $ 100 million will be invested in the modernization of the plant in St. Petersburg; two new models are being prepared here - the Hyundai Creta crossover and the new Solaris.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on Tuesday that a special investment contract had been signed for the construction of a Mercedes-Benz passenger car plant in the Moscow region.

The contract is for 9 years. Under its terms, Daimler will build a full cycle car plant (welding, painting, assembly) on the territory of the Esipovo industrial park with a design capacity of more than 20,000 cars per year. The start of serial production is scheduled for 2019. Investments will amount to at least 15 billion rubles, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. More than 250 million euros are expected to be invested, Daimler said in a statement. Mercedes-Benz SUVs and E-klasse sedan will be produced. A source close to one of the parties adds that the new plant will produce three crossover models and one sedan.

The document was signed between the Russian Federation (represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade), Mercedes-Benz Rus (100% subsidiary of Daimler), the government of the Moscow region, the Peshkovskoye settlement of the Solnechnogorsk district of the Moscow region, as well as involved parties - Daimler AG, Kamaz , "Daimler Kamaz Rus ”(a parity joint venture, manufactures trucks in Tatarstan) and Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Rus.

“Mercedes-Benz's investment in the creation of a local assembly of passenger cars speaks of the strategic decision of the global automaker and its faith in the Russian market, regardless of the short-term situation,” comments Alexander Morozov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. “Thanks to local production in Russia, we will be even closer to our customers and at the same time strengthen the global competitiveness of the Mercedes-Benz Cars division,” says Markus Schaefer, Board Member of the Mercedes-Benz Cars Division. Their words are quoted in the reports of Daimler and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In 2016, 36,888 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars were sold in Russia (minus 11%, the whole market decreased by the same amount, according to the AEB).

For several years Daimler has been deciding on the site for its plant, negotiations were also going on with Moscow and St. Petersburg. The choice of the Moscow region is connected with the proximity to the largest regional market in Russia - Moscow - and the readiness of the government of the Moscow region to provide the investor with the maximum possible benefits, explains the source of Vedomosti.

Officials promise "to facilitate the implementation of the project by providing measures of state support and the creation of a preferential tax regime." In particular, the company will have a zero rate on property for the duration of the contract, says a person close to one of the participants in the investment contract. But under the conditions of obtaining a zero rate of income tax, which can be claimed by participants in investment contracts, Mercedes-Benz rus does not fall under the conditions, since most of the proceeds will be generated not by production, but by retail sales, the source says. Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mercedes-Benz Rus did not comment on this.

Daimler's competitors have already set up production of premium cars in Russia, but using a large-knot method: the VW group assembles Audi at the facilities of its plant in Kaluga, and BMW at the facilities of Avtotor. Local assembly allows you to participate in government purchases and government programs, Daimler also wants to use this, says a person close to one of the participants in the investment contract.

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In the Solnechnogorsk district, in Episovo, 40 kilometers from Moscow along the Leningradskoe highway, the construction of a large plant for the production of wheeled vehicles of JSC "Mercedes-Benz RUS" has started.

The location of the future plant is due to the fact that the main and main warehouse is located in the northern capital, and from there containers with components will arrive at the plant in the Moscow region.

The work began in June 2017, and its completion is scheduled for April 2019, then in the first half of the year the cars will be lowered off the assembly line. A large-scale construction project has developed on an area of ​​84.4 hectares, where in a couple of years workshops and warehouses for the assembly of cars will be located.

The total area of ​​the plant during its construction may change; in such a case, the Moscow Region government keeps additional territory in reserve.

Upon completion of the construction of the plant in the Moscow region, 1.5 thousand jobs will be vacant.

Contacts of construction participants can be viewed

The customer of the project is JSC Mercedes-Benz RUS, the only official supplier of cars of the brand of the world company Mercedes-Benz in Russia. The general contractor is ESTA Contract LLC.

A special investment contract (SPIC) for the construction of a Mercedes-Benz plant in Russia was signed by the leadership of the Moscow region. The head of the region Andrey announced this on his instagram.

“Nine copies of an investment contract for the construction of a Mercedes plant. I just signed documents from the Moscow region. We send to ",

- wrote Vorobyov and attached photographs with folders of documents to the record.

Photo from the instagram of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov with the signature "nine copies of the investment contract for the construction of the Mercedes plant"

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade itself told Gazeta.Ru that the SPIC has not yet been signed on their part. Mercedes-Benz did not respond to Gazeta.Ru's inquiry, but it can be assumed that the company's leaders have not yet signed the documents either. Nevertheless, rumors about the early signing of a document on the localization of Mercedes-Benz cars in Russia have been circulating for a long time.

And the news from the governor of the Moscow region became another confirmation of the brand's intention to establish localized production in Russia and return the lost access to government orders.

Earlier, the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov estimated investments in the construction of the Daimler plant in the Moscow region at least € 300 million - the exact figure will be announced after the signing of the document. At the same time, according to the words, Daimler decided not to assemble Mercedes-Benz S-class cars in Russia. Instead, the future enterprise will focus on the production of premium SUVs: in the Moscow region, it is planned to produce five passenger models of the S, E, ML, GL and A series. Production volumes are approximately 25-30 thousand vehicles per year.

According to general rules, an investment of € 300 million allows you to conclude a contract for a period of ten years, to obtain the status of a Russian manufacturer, as well as the only supplier under a government contract with a guaranteed volume of demand.

Earlier, Ekaterina, co-chairman of the localization committee of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, managing partner of GDP Quadrat, explained to Gazeta.Ru that the company that signed the SPIC can count on all the benefits enshrined in the legislation - they are also prescribed in this document.

“It is important that, no matter how the tax legislation changes over the next years, the tax rate for the company will not change during the entire duration of the SPIC, -.

- Mercedes will receive the status of a Russian manufacturer, will have access to government orders, and the size of the investments will allow the brand to achieve the status of a single supplier.

The amount of guaranteed government purchases will be specified in the SPIC. It is important to note that in relation to special economic zones (SEZs), a combination of benefits intended for both SPICs and SEZs is possible. So, in the SEZ, the regional income tax rate is zero, and the resident pays only 2% to the federal budget. SPIC terms allow excluding this 2%. In addition, according to the general rules, the manufacturer can count on a reduced income tax ”.

Meanwhile, Aleksey, an analyst with Alor Broker, believes that the localization of Mercedes-Benz production in Russia has nothing to do with public procurement.

“The enterprise can receive single orders within the framework of the state order. But given the high competition in the Russian market for contracts and the irregular nature of purchases, if the enterprise was focused exclusively on meeting the needs of the state in executive cars, then its payback period would stretch for 20-25 years, Antonov told Gazeta.Ru. - Mercedes-Benz is one of the leaders in the premium segment of the Russian market.

Despite the absence of localized production, even with a falling market, the company managed to earn 191.2 billion rubles at the end of the year.

Thus, Mercedes, having sold several times fewer cars in Russia than Kia and, was able to take the second line among the most successful car brands in Russia, losing only to Toyota (213.8 billion rubles). If Kia, which earned 40 billion rubles in Russia. less, the question of the expediency of localization of production is not worth it, the intentions of Mercedes to invest in Russia are all the more surprising ”.

In turn, Sergei Zvenigorodsky, head of the retail sales department of SOLID Management Management Company, told Gazeta.Ru that, according to him, such a plant “could reach recoupment in five and a half years, and the remaining period of the SPIC will generate net cash flow". The refusal of Mercedes-Benz from the production of the S-class, according to the expert, is connected with possible competition with the Cortege project, the cars of which will be created on the Unified modular platform and are designed to replenish the Special Purpose Garage.

We remind that earlier Gazeta.Ru was the first to report that Mercedes-Benz, following Mazda, plans to sign a SPIC with the government. Thus, the brand of the last of the big German three will finally receive a Russian residence permit. In an interview with Gazeta.Ru, the head of Mercedes-Benz in Russia, Yan Madeya, said that state customers of the company accounted for no more than 3% of sales.

“Of course, they usually buy expensive cars,” Madeya said. “But these orders do not determine the profitability of our company. It is important for the perception of the brand and our reputation that the top management of the largest companies drives Mercedes-Benz. However, this is a very small part of our business. "

In addition, according to him, Mercedes-Benz had many questions regarding the framework terms of the contract.