Mercedes-Benz suspends Russia exports and production amid Putin's invasion of Ukraine

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday announced that it would be suspending its vehicle exports to Russia and domestic production in the nation. With its move, Mercedes became the latest carmaker to respond to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, the German firm stated that it will halt the export of passenger cars and vans to Russia as well as local manufacturing in the country “until further notice”. 

Automakers suspend business in Russia

Apart from Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen also made similar announcements earlier this week. Earlier this week, Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo also said that it would suspend car shipments to Russia until further notice. In a statement, the company said that it made the decision because of potential risks associated with trading material with Russia, including the sanctions imposed by the EU and the US. 

Moreover, automakers including General Motors (GM), Daimler too made similar announcements. GM even announced that it would suspend all vehicle exports to Russia until further notice. Daimler Truck, on the other hand, said that it would freeze its business activities in Russia with immediate effect, including its cooperation with Russian truck maker Kamaz, which is 47% owned by Russian state conglomerate Rostec. Ford too announced intentions to scale back Russia-related operations and halt vehicle production with its Russian joint ventures. 

"In recent years, Ford has significantly wound down its Russian operations, which now focus exclusively on commercial van manufacturing and Russian sales through a minority interest in the Sollers Ford joint venture," Ford said in a press release. "Given the situation, we have today informed our JV partners that we are suspending our operations in Russia, effective immediately, until further notice,” it added. 

Meanwhile, amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the US on Wednesday expanded its sanctions, imposing export controls on Belarus, which is the base for some of the Russian attacks on Ukraine. Additionally, the EU also expanded its own ban to 70% of Belarus exports to the bloc. In the light of such sanctions, global brands, including Shell, Apple and Boeing, have also cut ties or stopped sales in Russia. The Kremlin, on the other hand, which has called Russia’s actions in Ukraine a “special operation”, has responded to the growing exodus of Western investors by temporarily restricting Russian asset sales by foreigners. 

(Image: AP/UNSPLASH)