The former Mercedes-Benz car plant in Esipovo in the Moscow region is being prepared to resume vehicle manufacturing in the first quarter of 2027 with a new partner.
Andrei Olkhovsky, the general director of the Russian automotive group Avtodom, said the company expects to restart assembly operations alongside the unnamed partner after preserving the factory's original German machinery.
Olkhovsky stated that equipment left behind by the German automaker was preserved and packaged in strict accordance with technical requirements, leaving the hardware fully ready for future use.
The facility is not currently operating at its designed capacity, though Avtodom noted that the enterprise cannot be described as completely shut down. Avtodom has not yet disclosed which company will become the new manufacturing partner or which car models will be assembled at the site.
Factory history and ownership change
The car manufacturing plant opened in 2019 inside the Esipovo industrial park, located northwest of Moscow. The facility came under the control of the Avtodom group following the departure of Mercedes-Benz from the Russian market.
Avtodom is one of the largest automotive dealership holdings in Russia, managing retail showrooms, maintenance centers and vehicle distribution networks. Mercedes-Benz, the German luxury car brand, previously constructed the Esipovo site to produce passenger vehicles for the domestic Russian market.
The Esipovo industrial park is an industrial zone in the Moscow region equipped with dedicated transport links and utility infrastructure designed to support large-scale automotive manufacturing.
Market stabilization and component localization
Olkhovsky also said he believes the Russian automotive market will complete the stabilization of its model range and active brands by 2027. He projected that this stable period would last for the following four to five years across the domestic sector.
Following that market stabilization, Olkhovsky estimated that carmakers will focus on three main operational priorities. Manufacturers will concentrate on localising component supply, expanding total production volumes and reducing overall manufacturing costs.
Component localization requires carmakers to source automotive parts from domestic suppliers rather than importing foreign parts, helping factories reduce expenses and secure steady assembly lines.
