German automaker BMW suspended deliveries and stopped production efforts in the luxury maker’s factory in Kaliningrad and won’t approve any more exports for Russia.
Only a month ago, BMW said it will continue its partnership with Avtotor, which has been in force since 1999 and will keep making X5s, X6s, X7s, and the 5 Series as part of a 32 billion rubles agreement.
On February 28, BMW said its “business activities in Russia” were “under review,” and a decision was expected in a day or so. Now the automaker has decided: “No more made in Russia BMWs and no new cars for the country. We’ll have to see how long this will last.”
“Due to the current geopolitical situation, we will stop our local production and export for the Russian market until further notice,” WSJ quoted BMW spokesperson.
MINI will also be affected by this decision. The scale of it is yet to be known.
Unlike BMW, Aston Martin has put out a statement and said their “primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of their partners and customers “in Kyiv.” The British carmaker is doing the same as the Germans and confirms “a pause” in sales and shipments to Russia.
BMW also faced losses in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.