Sitting on the Okra river around three hours south of Moscow is the small administrative city of Kaluga. It plays an important role in the Russian automotive industry as home to several vehicle factories operated by foreign manufacturers, the largest of which is a Volkswagen plant.

With an output of 225,000 units a year, VW’s Kaluga facility is home to production of the Tiguan, Polo and Skoda Rapid. The plant opened back in 2007 and started life as a SKD facility. Full-cycle production, including welding and painting, of the Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Octavia started two years later, and production of the Polo was introduced in 2010. The Audi Q7 is also assembled from semi-knocked down (SKD) kits. 

Construction of the plant’s engine facility started in 2012 and was completed in 2015, while a new bodyshop was opened a year later. According to Oliver Grünberg, technical director and deputy general director of Volkswagen Group Rus, this all came at something of an awkward time…