Toyota begins RAV4 production at Saint Petersburg plant

Toyota began production of the current-generation RAV4 yesterday at the Toyota plant in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  

The RAV4 becomes the second model to be produced at the Saint Petersburg plant together with the Camry, which has been made there since 2007. The Russian-made RAV4 is being produced for Russian, Kazakh and Belarus markets.

The decision to start RAV4 production at the Toyota plant in Saint Petersburg was made in 2013 following strong sales of the vehicle in Russia. As a pioneer creating a brand new segment when first launched in 1994, the RAV4 has established a solid reputation with Russian customers since its launch in Russia in 2002. For several years, it has been not only the market leader in the C-SUV segment, but the vehicle has become one of Toyota’s best-sellers across all segments in Russia. 

Hidenori Ozaki, president of Toyota Motor LLC, said “The RAV4 launch at Toyota’s plant in Saint Petersburg is a key to Toyota’s sustainable development in Russia, as well as our contribution to the regional and Russian economy. The successful implementation of our company plans to start second model production confirms our commitment to promote the development of the automotive business in Russia and to offer products which are fully in line with the needs of Russian customers. We are confident in the future success of our Toyota RAV4 in Russia.”

At the end of 2015 in preparation for the start of production of the RAV4, the plant’s production capacity was doubled from 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles a year. Investment towards this production capacity increase and the new model launch reached 9.7 billion RUR.