Ford Sollers was a joint venture between the American car manufacturer Ford and the Russian Sollers established in 2011, and dissolved in 2022. Ford Sollers was responsible for the production, import, and distribution of all Ford brand products, including vehicles, parts and accessories, in Russia.

History

On 1 October 2011, the CEO of Ford Alan Mulally and Sollers' general director Vadim Shvetsov announced the creation of an equally owned joint venture called Ford Sollers to produce Ford-branded cars. The new company took control of the Ford's factory in Vsevolozhsk, near

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, (opened in 2002) and two Sollers' factories in

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

region, one in

Yelabuga Yelabuga (also spelled ''Elabuga''; ; ) is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and east from Kazan. Population: The evolution of name The name of the city of Yelabuga comes from the T ...

and the other in

Naberezhnye Chelny Naberezhnye Chelny (, ; , ) is the second largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. A major industrial center, Naberezhnye Chelny stands on the Kama River east of Kazan near Nizhnekamsk Reservoi ...

. The head offices/product development centre were established in

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

, Moscow. Ford had already been producing the Mondeo and

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

car lines in Vsevolozhsk, then the first model produced by the venture in Yelabuga was the

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a panel van, cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford ...

. Later, at the same location, started the production of the Kuga, and the

Explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. For the Naberezhny Chelny plant, the Ecosport began in 2014, and the Fiesta began in 2015. In September 2015, Ford Sollers launched at Yelabuga the first engine plant of a foreign brand in Russia. The plant produces three versions of the 1.6L Duratec engine with 85 hp, 105 hp and 125 hp. Since 2015, Ford Sollers has been realizing social program ''Driving Skills for Life Academy'' aimed at teaching safe driving techniques to young drivers. On 27 March 2019, Ford announced it was restructuring its agreement with Sollers and it will discontinue its passenger vehicle portfolio in Russia to help deliver a more competitive and sustainably profitable business going forward. On 1 March 2022, Ford Sollers suspended operations in response to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On 26 October 2022, Ford sold its 49 percent share in the joint venture, and exited the Russian market, adding that it retains the option to buy them back within a 5-year period “should the global situation change.

Production

Vsevolozhsk (Saint Petersburg)

* Ford Focus (2004–2019) *

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

(2009–2014)

Yelabuga

(2012–2022) * Ford Kuga (2013–2019) *

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

(2012–2019) * Ford Galaxy (2012–2014) * Ford S-Max (2012–2014) * Aurus Senat

Naberezhny Chelny

* Ford EcoSport (2014–2019) *

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...

(2015–2019)

References

{{Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Russia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2011 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2022 Sollers JSC Companies based in Moscow Oblast 2011 establishments in Russia 2022 disestablishments in Russia