Ford Launches Explorer CKD Assembly in Russia

VIENNA – Ford Sollers Holding, the Russian 50-50 joint venture agreed to by Ford and Russian vehicle manufacturer Sollers in 2011, launches assembly today of the Ford Explorer SUV from complete-knocked-down kits sourced from the U.S. at its plant in Elabuga, Russia.

The auto maker started Russian Explorer assembly from semi-knocked-down kits last year. The bodies now are welded and painted in Elabuga.

The first full-production units off the line is a Frozen White Explorer Sport, a new model available in Russia for the first time. It is equipped with a 350-hp, 3.5L EcoBoost V-6 engine mated with a 6-speed, SelectShift automatic transmission.

The former Sollers plant already assembles the Ford Transit, S-Max, Galaxy and Kuga from SKD kits, with Explorer models added in 2012.

“We are continuing with our new-vehicle surge in Russia by now manufacturing a full-cycle production version of the Ford Explorer,” Ted Cannis, president and CEO of Ford Sollers, says in a prepared statement.

The Russia-made Explorers will be manufactured at the same high level of efficiency and to the same quality standards as those built at the Chicago Assembly Plant in the U.S., the auto maker says.

“With our partner Sollers, we were able to take the best practices from Chicago Assembly, as well as our other SUV plants around the world, and combine them with our latest advances in the Ford production system to ensure we achieved world-class quality and significantly reduced lead times of one to two years,” John Fleming, executive vice president-global manufacturing and labor affairs, says in a statement.

Current Explorer capacity installed in Elabuga is 10,000 units annually, Ford-Sollers spokesman Sergey Kirillov tells WardsAuto. The Kuga will be Elabuga’s second CKD vehicle starting in the year’s second half.

As production at Elabuga ramps up, Ford Sollers plans to hire an additional 500 workers to supplement the facility’s existing 1,500 employees by the end of 2013.

With the creation of Ford Sollers, the two former Sollers plants in Elabuga and Naberezhnye Chelny became part of the new joint venture, along with Ford’s Focus and Mondeo factory in Vsevolozhsk near St. Petersburg.

Ford Sollers still is preparing the Naberezhnye Chelny facility for new models. Production is expected to start in 2014, but Ford does not provide information on the vehicles to be made there. One possibility is a B-segment model.

“We believe…the B-segment has potential, and we are working on this,” Wolfgang G. Schneider, Ford of Europe vice president-governmental, environmental and legal affairs, told WardsAuto in an interview last year when asked about Russia. We want to cover all the market segments.”

Another vehicle destined for Naberezhnye Chelny could be a compact SUV.