They say it's "Russian Detroit," but it has a little more history. AND' St. Petersburg. As in Michigan, Fiat is also about to land here, becoming the seventh car manufacturer to open a plant in the city of the tsars. The rumor had been circulating for a couple of days, but today the head of the municipal committee for strategic investments and projects, Aleksey Chichkanov, confirmed his intention to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Italian manufacturer in the first quarter of 2012: “In in principle – he said -, the decision to install the factory in Petersburg has been taken”.
Turin did not want to comment on the news, but it seems that Lingotto “has found a serious Russian partner. Until now, this was the problem”, as Chichkanov explained again. Yesterday, on the sidelines of the traditional meeting with managers for year-end greetings, Sergio Marchionne limited himself to a few words: "We are working on a solution". But the managing director himself had recently indicated the end of the year as the desired deadline for "some news".
Fiat's Russian plan is to produce up to 120 cars a year in the territory of the Confederation, on the basis of an agreement signed last June with the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. The planned investment is 1,1 billion dollars.
Sources cited by the TmNews agency speculate an agreement with the main Russian bank, Sberbank, for the financing of the project, specifying that "there have also been many contacts with VneshEkonomBank", the Bank for External Economic Activities. On the other hand, talks with Sberbank had already been discussed last spring, in the aftermath of the sinking of the joint-venture with Sollers, which launched the Lingotto in search of a new partner.
Against the backdrop of Turin's great caution, the Russians are putting forward some details on the new strategy. According to sources quoted by RIA Novosti, “cars will also be produced in Petersburg Chryslers and Jeeps“, especially Jeep Cherokee. A true piece of Michigan in Russian Detroit.
