Ford sells stake in Russia business, joining carmaker exodus

Ford Motor Co. sold its 49% stake in the Sollers Ford joint venture, finalising its exit from Russia after suspending operations in the country earlier this year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Shares of the automaker will be transferred to the venture for a nominal value of €1 ($1), a Ford spokesman said Wednesday. The company will retain the option to buy back the shares within a five-year period “should the global situation change,” it said in a statement.

Ford already had halted Russian commercial van manufacturing, supply of parts, information technology and engineering support in March. It follows Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Mercedes Benz AG in making a full departure from Russia.

Ford’s business in Russia is small and has been downsized over the past three years. There were just 22 000 of its vehicles — including Ford-branded automobiles produced by an unconsolidated affiliate — sold there last year, according to regulatory filings.

“We at Ford are deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the safety of the Ukrainian people,” Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley wrote on Twitter in March.

Shares of Ford rose 1.3% to $13 as of 11:24 a.m. in New York. The stock is down about 37% this year.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker had said in 2019 it was closing three factories in Russia, pulling out of a car market where it was once a pioneer as part of a broader overhaul of its money-losing European operations. That decision was made as an economic slowdown and Western sanctions dimmed the outlook for what many automakers had long seen as a key growth market.

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