Mercedes launches assembly line in Naberezhnye Chelny

Mercedes Benz Trucks Vostok, a joint venture set up by the Dailmer AG concern and the JSC KAMAZ, has opened a production line. President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov took part in the ceremony.

Other attendees were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Russia Ulrich Brandenburg, Daimler AG board member and Dailmer Trucks chief Andreas Renschler, Rostekhnologii general director Sergey Chemezov, KAMAZ general director Sergey Kogogin and other officials.

“I am genuinely glad a joint venture is today launched in Naberezhnye Chelny that will assemble state-of-the-art trucks. Let production facilities like this be many more,” Rustam Minnikhanov said at the ceremony.

Andreas Renschler noted Mercedes had found a reliable partner in KAMAZ. “There are many ideas that will be implemented in collaboration,” he added.

The partnership with Mercedes will make KAMAZ a global company, Sergey Kogogin said. “A very important event has today taken place, and I am proud to say Mercedes vehicles are now assembled in Naberezhnye Chelny.”

After the symbolic ribbon cutting, a scarlet cover was removed from the first locally assembled Mercedes truck, and the high-ranking guests examined the German brand’s flagship, an Actros 1841 LS.

Rustam Minnikhanov put himself behind the steering wheel and made a circle around the assembly shop.

The launch of the new joint venture is a big event for not only Tatarstan but the entire Russian auto industry, he told a news conference later.

The Mercedes Benz Trucks Vostok director for sales and marketing Konstantin Kogogin said the share of Mercedes trucks in Russia the previous year was 10.2 percent among the foreign manufacturers, and 22 percent in Europe. The main goal is in 2-3 years to achieve a share commensurate with the share in Europe, he said.