2024-02-16 06:00:22
Photo: Mikhail Ognev / Fontanka.ru
Share
The restart of the former Hyundai and Nissan car plants brought some of the enterprises that provided them with components out of idleness. But the future prospects of the cluster of auto components manufacturers in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region are still vague: the Korean heritage and nameplates for Chinese cars are a fragile basis.
Now Avtomobilny Zavod St. Petersburg (ex-Nissan) and Automobile Plant AGR (ex-Hyundai) are holding meetings with manufacturers of auto components in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region to understand who is left alive and to discuss further cooperation. Fontanka conducted its audit of the St. Petersburg auto cluster and tells how two years of downtime and a change in the owners of the main customers affected the business.
In total, approximately eight dozen companies specializing in the production of components for vehicles are registered in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. But if we cut off those who have not shown revenue of at least 1 million rubles in the last two years, then 55 players will remain.
The shutdown of car factories following the start of a special operation in Ukraine pulled almost the entire auto cluster with it. In 2022, the total turnover of component manufacturers fell by 68% compared to 2021 – from 79.2 to 25.1 billion rubles. And if in 2021 only eight companies had a net loss, then in 2022 their number increased to 28. However, over the past two years, only one player has completely ceased operations – STSERVIS LLC, which was liquidated in the summer of 2023.
There are no financial results for 2023 yet. But according to the auto component manufacturers themselves, the situation greatly depends on sales channels: those companies whose main customers were foreign car factories, along with them, remained idle and in the red, and those who previously worked for Russian enterprises or the secondary market were able to – completely or partially – to win back the fall.
The restart of the former Hyundai plant, which was bought by the Art-Finance company (part of the AGR group) at the beginning of 2024, also introduced conveyors of component suppliers.
Enterprises, the main customer of which was previously KhMMR LLC, began to emerge from idle times, an interlocutor at one of them told Fontanka. This is also confirmed by advertisements on recruiting portals: for example, Mobis Module CIS, Peterform and Giambi Rus Automotive are looking for employees.
Basically, the enterprises that were suppliers to Hyundai work in one shift and produce products in the same volumes as the AGR Automobile Plant. According to the publication’s interlocutor, the same line is coming off the customer’s assembly line as before: Solaris, Creta and Rio. “They will have a different name, but technically it is the same product, and we continue to supply for it,” he said. Before the start of the SVO, some Hyundai suppliers had other customers, but they mostly also left Russia. Orders for components for AVTOVAZ models that were produced on the Renault platform also stopped. “We are working on diversification, but since the new players have not yet been localized, real production is far away,” said the head of one of the factories.
The manufacturer of interior trim components Alta North-West (formerly Antolin St. Petersburg Group) is still preparing for a restart, but does not link its plans with the AGR Automobile Plant. “We don’t supply to Hyundai, especially since now it will produce [из имеющихся машинокомплектов] and then there will be a question,” commented company director Roman Chebunin. Fontanka previously spoke regarding what the AGR Automobile Plant will do following the blanks for Hyundai and KIA cars, which it received along with the site, run out. https://www.fontanka.ru/2024/01/30/73173914/
According to Roman Chebunin, the catalyst for the resumption of work at Alta North-West will be AVTOVAZ, which is resuming production of the Lada Largus. There are other potential customers, but the top manager did not disclose their names.
One of the large component manufacturers, which previously worked mainly for Huyndai, is also looking towards AVTOVAZ. “We continue the dialogue, there are ideas, but we may lose in the competition to those who are closer [к Тольятти]”, said his manager. According to him, we are talking regarding new models that are “only at the launch planning stage.” As for Avtozavod St. Petersburg, which AVTOVAZ returned to the state, then, according to the publication’s interlocutor, this company is still “hanging nameplates on Chery Tiggo.” “We’ll soon find out if they will localize anything and when,” he said.
The director of another component manufacturer, owned by a foreign company and working with all three St. Petersburg automobile plants until 2022, said that he was counting on demand from them. “AVTOVAZ has enough of its own suppliers. We were designed for a regional auto cluster, when it is revived, everything will be fine,” he said, but found it difficult to give specific dates.
A number of auto component manufacturers said that they are still in downtime and have not yet been able to find new customers. “If we talk regarding the new owners [петербургских автозаводов], then only conversations with them for now, because they themselves do not have a clear program,” said Oleg Selyutin, director of Miravto (produces interior and exterior plastic parts). According to him, now the company stays afloat due to the non-core business of producing building materials, and does not produce auto components at all.
Until 2022, Miravto worked with Hyundai not directly, but through an intermediary. “We haven’t seen any activity yet: the survey of living souls has passed, and we also showed up,” said Oleg Selyutin. According to him, the new owner of the plant is now assembling cars from vehicle kits available in warehouses. “Not enough information [о перспективах сотрудничества] on their part,” he emphasized.
Other St. Petersburg players also cannot give orders, since no one has localized production. According to Oleg Selyutin, Avtozavod St. Petersburg also showed interest in Miravto. “But for now they have nothing specific to say, they are just preparing in terms of some localization potential and want to understand who is left,” he says. As for AVTOVAZ, the logistical remoteness of the enterprise in Togliatti even in good times made the supply of components from St. Petersburg not very economically justified. “They still have local suppliers and they are supported,” says Oleg Selyutin.
While the Toyota Boshoku plant, which produced car seats and interior parts for Toyota cars, is also idle, its director Yaroslav Karnakov told Fontanka, but refused to comment on the prospects of a restart. Previously, the enterprise, like Toyota itself, was transferred to US. In the summer of 2023, it reported that, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, it was working on resuming the plant’s activities and expected to engage in import substitution of modern automotive components.
Other suppliers of automotive components for the former Toyota plant, which, according to the latest data, was given to the tandem of KAMAZ and Aurus, do not count too much. “Aurus is an extremely niche product,” the director of one of the large manufacturers told Fontanka. According to him, the company was negotiating on e-Neva, which the Obukhov plant was going to produce at the Toyota site. “We had framework ideas for cooperation, but nothing progressed further,” noted Fontanka’s interlocutor.
Players who have not collaborated with Russian enterprises of foreign auto giants are much more optimistic. For example, the Dinex Rus company, which specializes in the production of exhaust systems, supplies them to manufacturers of trucks, road construction and tractor equipment, for example, the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant. In 2022, the company also lost two-thirds of its previous revenue. “Manufacturers of auto components always follow the manufacturers of equipment in terms of turnover. They were feverish, and we felt it ourselves,” commented the director of the company, Konstantin Martynov. This year Dinex Rus is counting on positive dynamics. “Our consumers are import-substituting supply chains, or switching from supplies from unfriendly countries to friendly ones. The situation is stabilizing and pent-up demand is emerging among the end consumer,” he noted. However, the lack of qualified personnel hinders development.
The manufacturer of shock absorbers for ATVs and snowmobiles, Rusam, was able to return to pre-crisis volumes back in 2023, said its director Vladislav Kalabin. The drop in 2022 was due to a change of ownership at one of the counterparty factories. This year Rusam plans to grow by another 15%. “The problem with China is that banks don’t want to work, but the rest seems to be okay,” says Vladislav Kalabin. According to him, the company previously made attempts to become a supplier to AVTOVAZ and UAZ, but the proposed conditions turned out to be unprofitable.
The lion’s share of auto component manufacturers in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region belonged to foreign companies, and the managers were often foreign top managers (for example, the directors of most Hyundai suppliers are expats from Korea). Many of the enterprises still retain foreign owners, but some have received new owners. For example, Peterform, which previously belonged to the Canadian Magna International, was transferred to the Russian company E-mobile. Its director, Pavel Sereda, is the owner of the Elkar Research and Production Enterprise, which is part of the Itelma group and specializes in the production of components for the followingmarket.
“Group Antolin St. Petersburg” previously belonged to the Spanish Grupo Antolin, a large manufacturer of components for car interiors. But in the spring of 2023, the enterprise became the property of the leasing company Delta from Krasnoyarsk, owned by businessman Vasily German, and then changed its name to Alta North-West LLC.
The Italian-Japanese concern Marelli is regarding to leave the Russian market. The only employee left in his Russian subsidiary Marelli Rus is General Director Artem Surkov. “There are no prospects, the global corporation left along with Nissan, and we are at the stage of ceasing operating activities,” he told Fontanka. According to him, Marelli Rus will transfer its fixed assets to Avtozavod St. Petersburg and liquidate its LLC. The procedure is planned to be completed by May.
Nissan was not the only, but the main customer, accounting for 95% of deliveries, explained Artem Surkov. For AVTOVAZ and other cars that are assembled in Russia, Marelli Rus products are not suitable. In addition, the business depended on the supply of components from abroad. “Globally, the company supplied the components, we cast something locally, assembled it using parts that were supplied to us, and it was all sent to Nissan. If there are no components for current production, then there is nothing to assemble from, even if we wanted to,” explained Artem Surkov.
Foreign owners of another auto components manufacturer are still waiting, its director told Fontanka. But restarting the business without their participation, for example, by selling it to some Russian company, will still not work, he is sure. “There is a building, there are machines, and there are technologies, know-how and expertise. And all this cannot be transferred or sold,” he concluded.
Galina Boyarkova, Fontanka.ru
Photo: Mikhail Ognev / Fontanka.ru
1708067747
#Petersburg #manufacturers #auto #components #began #emerge #downtime #car #factories #February
