TOYOTA CITY, JAPAN — Toyota plans to invest 2.7 billion rubles ($88 million) in establishing new facilities for plastic auto part production in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The new plant will specialize in producing plastic parts for interiors, as well as transmissions and wipers. According to Toyota, the products may be supplied to other auto plants in the St. Petersburg region, or exported outside the region.
Most global automakers operating their own plants in Russia prefer to work with foreign suppliers of auto parts, as the quality of domestic manufacturers remains low.
For example, South Korea's Hyundai cooperates with up to five South Korean producers of automotive component operating in Russia. Canadian Magna supplies its auto parts to General Motors, Nissan and Volkswagen, which operate its factories in St. Petersburg.
According to analysts of PricewaterhouseCoopers Russia, only a small number of Russian producers of auto components meet the requirements of foreign automakers.
