Volvo Cars said Monday that it will stop vehicle shipments to the Russian market until further notice. Volvo Trucks will, similarly, suspend sales there.
The move makes Volvo the first international carmaker to stop selling cars in the country following its invasion of Ukraine, reports Reuters. The automaker exports vehicles to the market from its plants in Sweden, China, and the United States and, in 2021, it sold around 9,000 vehicles there.
The automaker made the decision because of “potential risks associated with trading material with Russia, including the sanctions imposed by the EU and US,” the automaker said in a statement. “Volvo Cars will not deliver any cars to the Russian market until further notice.”
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The truckmaker AB Volvo, meanwhile, said it had halted all of its production and sales in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The Volvo Group generates around 3 percent of its sales in the market and has a factory there.
“We now have a bit more clarity on sanctions and security in the region… this means all operations in Russia end,” a spokesperson told Reuters.
Similarly, Daimler Truck also said it would freeze its business activities in Russia with immediate effect, including its work with Kamaz, a Russian truckmaker.
“Our cooperation with Kamaz is purely civilian in nature and was only concluded with this focus,” an internal memo said. “In this cooperation, it goes without saying that we have always strictly complied with all applicable export control and sanction regulations […] “We will comply with all measures taken by the German government and the EU.”
A number of automakers, including France’s Renault, said they would be experiencing production interruptions as a result of the invasion and its effects on trade in both Russia and Ukraine.
