Mercedes-Benz has sold its Russian financial services division to local car dealer Avtodom as it moves closer to selling all of its Russian assets.
Russian law requires the go-ahead of Vladimir Putin to approve the sale of stakes in Russian finance or energy ventures. Putin signed an order on Monday approving Mercedes-Benz Bank Rus’s sale to Avtodom.
The Russian car dealer doesn’t plan to stop with the finance arm of the German car manufacturer. In fact, it hopes to purchase all of Mercedes-Benz’s Russian assets. This includes a factory outside Moscow where the company will aim to restart production. Government approval for this purchase could come by the end of February.
Mercedes-Benz’s move to sell its finance arm comes after it made a commitment last October to fully quit the Russian market after the nation invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Reuters notes that no financial details of the deal have been disclosed.
Read: Mercedes Withdraws From Russia, But Will Keep A Stake In Kamaz Trucks
Mercedes-Benz suspended Russian production in March 2022. Sales of its vehicles quickly dried up after it mothballed production, so much so that Mercedes sold just 9,558 vehicles in Russia through the first nine months of 2022, a fall of 73 per cent from the year prior.
Numerous other Western automakers have sold their assets in Russia, although a number of them have also stipulated options that would allow them to buy their stakes back into the contracts signed with buyers of their factories and subsidiaries, should they ever decide to re-enter the Russian market. It is unclear if Mercedes-Benz has such a buy-back option.
