MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Volkswagen's subsidiary in Russia is launching full-cycle production of cars in the city of Kaluga southwest of Moscow, the German automaker said in a statement Tuesday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will attend the ceremony to launch the assembly of completely knocked-down kits, which includes welding, painting and trimming.
"We in Volkswagen are convinced that Russia is a car market of the future. We have already invested over 570 million euros [$850 million] in our Kaluga plant and firmly intend to continue investing in Russia's economy," Volkswagen said.
Car production at the Kaluga plant began in the fall of 2007. In 2008 the plant produced over 60,000 cars, and the number exceeded 90,000 as of October 2009.
The plant produces VW Passat, Polo, Jetta, Tiguan, Touareg cars, as well as Skoda Fabia, Octavia, Octavia Tour and Superb cars. In July it started producing Caddy and Transporter models.
The Kaluga plant employs over 1,800 people, and the number of employees could reach 3,000 in 2010, when the plant is expected to reach its design capacity of 150,000 cars a year.
