Mazda loses option right to buy back Russian assets
Japanese carmaker Mazda Motor Corporation has not exercised its option to buy back 50% of Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus, its former joint venture with the Sollers Group. The Japanese company did not submit a request to exercise the option, Sollers said, according to TASS.
"The Sollers Group has not received any proposals or requests from Mazda to exercise the option, and under the current circumstances, we do not see any need for it to do so," the Russian holding company's press service said.
Mazda's stake in its joint venture with Sollers, under which Mazda passenger vehicles were assembled in Vladivostok, was sold to the Sollers Group in October 2022 for €1. The deal included a three-year option to repurchase.
After the military operations in Ukraine began in 2022, global automakers, including Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, and Hyundai, sold their Russian assets to local companies for symbolic amounts after arranging repurchase options. As Reuters notes, Mazda is the first automaker to have its option expire. The Japanese company did not respond to the agency's request for comment.
In 2022, Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus was renamed Automotive Industrial Technologies (AIT). Since 2023, Sollers buses have been assembled at the AIT site in Vladivostok.
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05.12.25