Volkswagen Group has offered to pay workers at its Nizhny Novgorod, Russia factory if they leave.
The car manufacturer manufactures Taos on site, as well as Skoda Octavia, Karoq and Kodiaq. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, VW said production at the Nizhny Novgorod site and its Kaluga plant would be suspended until further notice, and that vehicle exports to Russia would be stopped immediately.
Volkswagen does not actually own the Nizhny Novgorod plant where Skoda Octavia, Karoq, and Kodiaq are manufactured and instead has a contract with the GAZ Group to assemble its models on site, Auto News Comments.
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A spokesman for the German carmaker recently announced that about 200 qualified workers had been offered financial compensation of six months’ salary, and medical insurance by the end of 2022, if they agreed to stop working at the factory.
Ongoing aggression in Ukraine has forced several other large companies to sell their businesses in Russia. In May, the Renault Group signed an agreement with the city of Moscow to sell its 100 percent stake in Renault Russia. It is selling 67.69 per cent stake in AvtoVAZ to Russia’s Central Research and Development Automobile and Engine Institute NAMI. Importantly, the deal allows Renault to buy its shares “at a specified time in the next six years” if it decides it wants to return to the Russian market.
