- VW Group is considering building cars from Seat in the Ukraine.
- Production costs are lower in the Ukraine compared to Spain and Portugal.
MOSCOW — The Volkswagen Group may start production of its Spanish Seat cars in the Ukraine, according local business paper Deloy. The publication quoted Arkadiusz Mitkevich, CEO of Formula Motor Ukraine, the official importer of Seat models in Ukraine.
This production is expected to be established at the Eurocar plant, the official producer of VW Group brands in Ukraine, which is owned by well-known local businessman Oleg Boyarin. There has been speculation that VW would build Seat models in its Kaluga, Russia, facility as well, but this is believed to be less likely.
Eurocar has a history of having produced Seat cars in the past but currently builds Skoda vehicles for the Ukraine and Russia markets.
Local industry observers believe that transferring production of Seat cars from Spain to Eastern Europe is a logical step for Volkswagen, due to the lower production costs in Ukraine compared with Spain and Portugal. It would benefit Ukrainian distributors as well, since they would not have to import Seats from abroad.
They may join other local car manufacturers, in particular Bohdan, which produced Hyundai models, UkrAuto (Kia), as well as AIS (SsangYong).
It is expected that most of the new Seat cars will be sold in the CIS (Commonweath of Independent States) countries.
Inside Line says: VW takes steps to build them where they will be sold. — Evgeniy Vorotnikov, Correspondent
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