Ford Motor’s Russian joint-venture said it will create a research and development center that focuses on the growing Russian auto market, reports The Detroit News.
Ford Sollers, which teamed with Ford Motors two years ago, will begin research and development operations at three existing Ford facilities across Russia.
About 150 employees will be tasked with adapting some of Ford’s global vehicles for the Russian auto market, which leans heavily toward sport utility vehicles that can handle some of the country’s rough terrain. The operations should be fully staffed by the end of next year.
Raj Nair, Ford’s group vice president of global product development, is in Russia “to finalize the establishment of the Ford Sollers R&D operations in Russia,” the automaker said in a statement.
Ford just completed building a plant with Ford Sollers. The automaker also will build a new $274 million engine plant in Russia, and will triple its capacity in Russia to about 350,000 vehicles in coming years.
Source: The Detroit News
