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On February 7, the Russian Volga Automobile Factory (AvtoVAZ) announced that it had completed the acquisition of Nissan's plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, the same day the two sides signed the relevant acquisition agreement. As part of the deal, Russia's Volga car plant bought 99 per cent of Nissan's St. Petersburg plant for a nominal price of 1 euro, with the remaining 1 per cent retained by the Central Automotive and engine Research Institute (NAMI). The deal retains Nissan call options, and Nissan has the right to buy back its Russian assets within six years if Nissan makes a decision in the future and is approved by the Russian federal government.

On October 12, 2022, Nissan announced its withdrawal from the Russian market and sold about $686.2 million of its assets in Russia, including research centers in St. Petersburg, local sales centers and sales departments in Moscow. At the time, Nissan said all shares in its Russian subsidiary would be resold to the Moscow-based Central Research and Development Automotive engine Research Institute (NAMI) for future passenger car projects, while Nissan would be responsible for after-sales service and parts supply to Russia's Volga Automobile Factory (AvtoVAZ). Of course, this whole set of transactions led to an abnormal loss of about 100 billion yen (4.9 billion yuan) for Nissan. For the deal, Nissan has the right to buy back its shares within six years, which the industry sees as a way for Nissan to return to Russia.

On January 3, 2023, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Dennis ∙ Manturov said that the Russian Central Institute of Automotive and Automotive engine Science (NAMI) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade would transfer Nissan's Russian assets to the Volga Automobile Plant (AvtoVAZ). "recently, it was decided to transfer shares in Nissan to NAMI, but NAMI transferred those shares to AvtoVAZ in order to then work with foreign manufacturers to start production of Lada cars at the St. Petersburg base," Manturov said in an interview.

The above-mentioned Nissan plant, located in St. Petersburg in western Russia, first broke ground in July 2007 and put into production in 2009, with an annual production capacity of 100000 vehicles, mainly producing SUV models such as Qijun and Xiaoke. The plant, which employs about 2000 people, has a capacity of 56528 vehicles in 2018 and a cumulative capacity of 350000 vehicles by the beginning of 2019. In March 2022, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and supply chain disruptions, Nissan shut down its St. Petersburg plant and had planned to resume production in late September 2022. Nissan finally had to make the decision to withdraw from the Russian market because of the escalation of the situation in Russia and Ukraine.

The president of the Volga car plant said that after taking over Nissan's Russian plant, it plans to resume car production at the plant in the second half of 2023 and is expected to produce 10,000 units this year, followed by demand in the Russian car market to further increase capacity demand. The Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade said that he would increase the production and supply of the Russian car market as much as possible, and that after the acquisition, the Volga plant would produce at the St. Petersburg plant and achieve steady local growth.

In addition to Nissan, Mercedes-Benz's industrial and financial services division in Russia has been approved for sale to Russian car dealer Avtodom, according to the Wall Street Journal. Avtodom said it expected the deal to be completed by the end of February.

Also because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Mercedes-Benz suspended car production in Russian factories in March 2022 and stopped exporting cars to Russia. Mercedes-Benz said on October 26, 2022 that it was considering a complete withdrawal from the Russian market and the sale of some of its assets in Russia to Russian car dealer Avtodom, but the completion of the deal would require the approval of all relevant departments.

Mercedes-Benz reported 1.8 billion euros in assets and 1 billion euros in liabilities in Russia in the third quarter of 2022, and has suffered 709 million euros in losses related to its Russian business so far this year. It did not comment on the potential price of the sale. At the time, Avtodom, a Russian car dealer, said it would get permission from the German government committee by February and finalize a deal to buy all of Mercedes-Benz's Russian assets as soon as possible, including a Mercedes-Benz plant on the outskirts of Moscow. With the sale of Mercedes-Benz's Russian financial services division, Mercedes-Benz will gradually divest the Russian market.

Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including French, Japanese and Korean brand car companies have announced to withdraw from the Russian car market, of which Renault, which accounts for nearly 10% of the Russian car market, first announced its withdrawal from the Russian market. Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Mazda followed, while Volkswagen, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz also planned to sell assets in Russia.

Data show that Russian car sales in 2022 were 687370, down 41.24% from the same period last year. The European Enterprise Association (AEB) said the decline in Russian car sales was affected by Western sanctions and unprecedented pressure on the Russian market. It is worth mentioning that in the context of the withdrawal of French, Japanese and Korean brands from the Russian car market, Chinese cars' market share in Russia has increased rapidly, from 9% in January 2022 to 37% in December 2022, and this market share is expected to continue to increase in the future.

The Russian car market is expected to pick up in 2023 with the increase in production by car companies such as AvtoVAZ and the opening of Moscovici and Harvard plants, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. AEB predicts that Russian car sales will be about 770000 in 2023, up 12% from a year earlier.

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