The Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod was an assembly facility of the German Volkswagen concern that operated on the site of GAZ Group in Nizhny Novgorod. Contract assembly of Volkswagen and Skoda vehicles was carried out here by Volkswagen Group Rus until March 2022, when production was halted because of the sanctions imposed against Russia. The design capacity of the site was 132,000 vehicles per year.[1]

Production

The plant was located directly on the grounds of the Gorky Automobile Plant and carried out contract assembly. Over the years, it produced the Skoda Yeti, Volkswagen Jetta, and Skoda Octavia, as well as the Skoda Karoq, Skoda Kodiaq, and Volkswagen Taos crossovers.[4][1] In 2021, 52,300 vehicles were assembled in Nizhny Novgorod out of the 170,300 produced by Volkswagen Group Rus in Russia as a whole.[1] The agreement between Volkswagen Group Rus and GAZ Group was set to run until 2025.[5]

Production halt in 2022

On March 3, 2022, the concern suspended operations at all of its Russian sites. Employees of the Nizhny Novgorod plant were placed on downtime with two-thirds of their salary paid.[5] In April 2022, it was reported that operations might resume in the summer of that year: the company was considering alternative routes for delivering components — through Istanbul and Georgia instead of Ukraine and Poland — and the relocation of Skoda Kodiaq production to Kaluga was also under discussion.[1] However, the plans did not materialize that summer: according to sources, the downtime was extended until at least September 2022.[5]

Relaunch under new brands

After Volkswagen's final departure from Russia, the site passed to the Russian company "Passenger Car Production" (PLA), which began producing cars there under the revived Volga brand. The head of the brand, Tatyana Fadeeva, announced the launch of body welding and painting as a step toward moving to its own platform and forming a new model lineup.[3] In February 2026, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov told the State Duma that in 2026 the site in Nizhny Novgorod was due to receive a legally formalized agreement with new partners and begin a full-scale relaunch.[2] First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov clarified that of 13 formerly foreign-owned enterprises, 11 are already operating at full capacity, and the Nizhny Novgorod site is among the two remaining ones, whose launch is planned for the first half of 2026.[2]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod may resume operations in summer
  2. ura.news — Toyota and Volkswagen plants to be launched in Russia in 2026: how foreign automakers continue to operate
  3. mskch.ru — Former Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod begins producing the Volga
  4. kolesa.ru — Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod suspends car production
  5. ritm-magazine.com — Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod to stand idle until September
Materials from the following articles were used (1)

Peskov allowed for the possibility of adding a Nizhny Novgorod-made Volga to the presidential garage