The former chef of Austrian car manufacturer Magna Steyr and ex-chairman of the board of directors of Russian automotive company GAZ Group, Siegfried Wolf, expressed his willingness to continue producing cars in Russia with the assistance of the Russian government, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2023) The former chef of Austrian car manufacturer Magna Steyr and ex-chairman of the board of directors of Russian automotive company GAZ Group, Siegfried Wolf, expressed his willingness to continue producing cars in Russia with the assistance of the Russian government, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday.
In January, Wolf sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting an investment project worth of 60 billion rubles ($736 million), aimed at "saving Russian car industry," the media reported.
The project stipulates joint production with GAZ of at least 270,000 cars of the legendary Volga brand on the Russian market per year, which would take two production facilities, including Volkswagen's plant in the Russian city of Kaluga, the report added.
Wolf is one of the most influential representatives of the European car industry, being a member of supervisory boards of German car components manufacturer Schaeffler and Porsche SE, which controls Volkswagen AG. Until the end of 2022, Wolf used to be a member of supervisory board of GAZ Group and still holds about 10% of its shares.
On Thursday, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that after the Volkswagen factory in Russia is sold, it may be used for producing Chinese automobiles of Chery brand, adding that the sales of the Russian shares of Hyundai and Volkswagen are almost completed and will be soon considered by the governmental commission on foreign investment.
