Mazda Becomes First Foreign Carmaker to Lose Control of Its Russian Joint Venture

Mazda Motor has lost the right to buy back its 50% stake in a Russian car-making joint venture.

The company missed the deadline to exercise an option agreed when it sold its share, former Russian partner Sollers told Reuters.

Mazdaʼs stake was sold to Russian firm Sollers in October 2022 for €1 ($1.15). Mazda had the option to repurchase it within three years for the same amount. Sollers said it never received any proposal or inquiry from Mazda.

“The Sollers Group did not receive any proposals or inquiries from Mazda regarding the exercise of the option, and under the current conditions, we do not see any need for it,” Sollers said in an emailed response to Reuters.

The Vladivostok factory, which once assembled Mazda cars, now produces buses under the Sollers brand. It has a capacity of up to 50,000 vehicles a year.

Mazda abandoned the Russian market after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Other global carmakers, including Renault, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, also sold Russian assets for symbolic amounts but retained the option to buy them back. Mazda is the first to lose this right, Reuters wrote.

The Russian market sells about 1.5 million new cars per year, according to Reuters. Chinese manufacturers now dominate, and many former foreign-owned factories assemble Chinese cars under new Russian brands.

For example, the former Renault plant in Moscow now builds Moskvich cars using Chinese parts.

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