Last spring, BMW and the Avtotor Kaliningrad plant there has been a discord: due to economic inexpediency, the range of models produced was radically reduced, and then the German concern did not participate in the Special Investment Contract (SPIC), which Avtotor concluded with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, now the companies have announced the expansion of cooperation.
The fact is that the current contract between BMW and Avtotor expires at the end of March 2022, and BMW’s own plant in Russia never appeared: the SPIC submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Industry and Trade was never signed, following which BMW completely ruled out the possibility of building a plant. However, the company does not intend to completely abandon local assembly, so a new contract has been signed with Avtotor for the production and supply of cars until 2028.
The Kaliningrad plant will produce BMW cars under an additional agreement signed in December 2021 to the current Special Investment Contract. The contract provides for the continuation of the assembly of the BMW X5, X6 and X7 crossovers, but in addition, the fifth series BMW sedan will return to Avtotor. And most importantly, the assembly of BMW cars will switch from SKD (large-scale assembly) and MKD (small-knot assembly) technologies to CKD, that is, production with welding and body painting. Avtotor will spend at least 32 billion rubles to expand production and build new workshops. The transition to the CKD cycle should take place approximately in 2023.
