Mazda To Form Russia Venture with Sollers

Mazda Motor Corp. says it has finalized a deal to create a 50: 50 joint venture in Russia's second-largest carmaker OJSC Sollers to begin building vehicles this autumn for the local market.

The partners first announced plans for the venture last November.

The new company, called Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus, will use a Sollers plant in Vladivostok, Russia, to produce the Mazda CX-5 crossover vehicle, the next-generation Mazda6 car and an unidentified Sollers model. The partners intend to start with 50,000 units of annual capacity and expand to 70,000 units a year later.

Mazda sold about 40,000 vehicles in Russia last year, up 60% from 2010.

Sollers is already a joint venture partner of Fiat, Ford, Isuzu and South Korea's SsangYong.