Volkswagen cars may return to the Russian market, although the German manufacturer denies involvement. This is what is said in a publication of the German publication Die Zeit.
The article notes that Volkswagen initially stopped supplying cars to the Russian Federation and began closing its factories there just a week after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
In July of this year, however, Jetta cars (not to be confused with Volkswagen Jetta) appeared on the Russian car market. Under this brand, models are produced at the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture in China.
For those who don't know, we will say that Jetta cars are primarily intended for the domestic Chinese market and are cheaper and slightly modified versions of familiar Volkswagen models.
Now, a subsidiary company of the Sino-German company appeared in the Russian Federation and launched its official website. Two models are presented there. Jetta VA3, which is a clone of the Volkswagen Polo Sedan and the Jetta VS5 crossover - a sibling of the SEAT Ateca and Skoda Karoq.
Volkswagen's spokesman noted that the German concern knows nothing about such a decision by the Chinese company, especially since FAW's share in the joint venture is larger.
Die Zeit journalists, however, cast doubt on this, saying that it was hard to believe that such a step was possible without Volkswagen's knowledge. It is also noted that after sending an official inquiry to Volkswagen, the website of Jetta Motors Russia stops working.
Volkswagen responded to accusations of exporting cars to Russia. The Jetta announced its official presence on the Russian market (although the brand's website is still down) and specifically stated that its models are "manufactured at FAW Corporation facilities from components supplied by the Volkswagen Group."
Volkswagen was quick to disavow any ties to Russia. When asked by TASS to comment on Die Zeit's publication, Volkswagen said that neither the concern itself nor its Chinese division officially supplies cars to the Russian market.
„Neither Volkswagen Group China nor its joint ventures export cars to Russia, and any reports or statements to the contrary are baseless and false,” the agency quoted a representative of the group. “Volkswagen also does not tolerate unauthorized trading and does everything possible to prevent it.“
The Jetta brand was created in China in 2019 with the efforts of Volkswagen and FAW, whose joint venture produces the brand's models. Now, two of them have been announced for official sale in Russia.
It is noteworthy that immediately after the announcement of the entry into the market in mid-July, the Russian site jetta-motors.ru stopped working. Jetta's press office explained this as a technical problem and promised to fix it as soon as possible, but since August 7, when you try to enter the page, an error message appears.