Since March 2022, when the assembly lines of the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus plant in the northern capital ceased operation, the fate of Korean brands in Russia has remained a mystery to everyone, including themselves. And in December, after spending nine months in complete exhaustion, Hyundai management finally gave birth to a statement quoted by TASS:

“Since March 2022, our business has been going through very difficult times due to the lack of auto parts due to global supply chain disruptions, as well as limited market access for semiconductors and other auto parts. The year is coming to an end, but we have still not managed to restore supply chains and prepare for the start of the production process.”

It is hardly worth noting that this plant produced the most popular Hyundai Solaris, Creta and Kia Rio models in our country. Not goodbye, but goodbye, dear (in the good sense of the word) and beloved. Because on January 16, a reduction in the workforce will begin, which will last until February 17 and affect up to 80% of the total number.

But I don’t believe the leaders of Western corporations. And this despite the fact that my sympathy is certainly not on the side of Asian cars, since I am an unconditional and unshakable fan of Bavarian cars. Complaints about the logistical ties being cut from the navel of the earth to the devil from the Koreans, which we reasonably consider our own, arouse sympathy. And the nagging of Europeans on the same subject may be bewilderment and even some disgust. What kind of chains can’t they build because they’re under our side? It is indeed ridiculous to even speak on this topic.

Of the multitude of examples of strange behavior by Western companies, we only remember two. Transparent hints were initially given from the highest peak of the French government that it was not worth tearing your claws head over heels and ruining a company that had been established over the years. However, Renault decided to follow in the footsteps of America and flew out of Russia before its own screams, in a panic, giving for pennies everything that had been acquired here by overwork. Or here Volkswagen, pulling no one’s tongue to make earth-shattering statements, suddenly mentioned that he “has a clear desire to leave the country completely”, that is, from Russia.

The Koreans, like all other automakers, faced an unpleasant alternative: toss their Russian assets into a landfill or mothball them until better times. Hyundai, unlike our Western “partners”, has so far opted for the second path. Russia turns slowly, with creaks, groans and obscenities, to the southeast. And it is likely that during this course she will soon find a common language with the Asian world. For with Europe, which has long flattered our country, but never bothered to receive an invitation to step over the threshold, relations, it seems, have been seriously and for a long time broken.

Since March 2022, when the assembly lines of the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus plant in the northern capital ceased operation, the fate of Korean brands in Russia has remained a mystery to everyone, including themselves. And in December, after spending nine months in complete exhaustion, Hyundai management finally gave birth to a statement quoted by TASS:

“Since March 2022, our business has been going through very difficult times due to the lack of auto parts due to global supply chain disruptions, as well as limited market access for semiconductors and other auto parts. The year is coming to an end, but we have still not managed to restore supply chains and prepare for the start of the production process.”

It is hardly worth noting that this plant produced the most popular Hyundai Solaris, Creta and Kia Rio models in our country. Not goodbye, but goodbye, dear (in the good sense of the word) and beloved. Because on January 16, a reduction in the workforce will begin, which will last until February 17 and affect up to 80% of the total number.

But I don’t believe the leaders of Western corporations. And this despite the fact that my sympathy is certainly not on the side of Asian cars, since I am an unconditional and unshakable fan of Bavarian cars. Complaints about the logistical ties being severed from the navel of the earth to the devil of the Koreans, which we reasonably consider our own, arouse sympathy. And the nagging of Europeans on the same subject may be bewilderment and even some disgust. What kind of chains can’t they build because they’re under our side? It is indeed ridiculous to even speak on this subject.

Of the multitude of examples of strange behavior by Western companies, we only remember two. Transparent hints were initially given from the highest peak of the French government that it was not worth tearing your claws head over heels and ruining a company that had been established over the years. However, Renault decided to follow in the footsteps of America and flew out of Russia before its own screams, in a panic, giving for pennies everything that had been acquired here by overwork. Or here Volkswagen, pulling no one’s tongue to make earth-shattering statements, suddenly mentioned that he “has a clear desire to leave the country completely”, that is, from Russia.

The Koreans, like all other automakers, faced an unpleasant alternative: toss their Russian asset into a landfill or mothball it until better times. Hyundai, unlike our Western “partners”, has so far opted for the second way. Russia turns slowly, with creaks, groans and obscenities, to the southeast. And it is likely that during this course she will soon find a common language with the Asian world. For with Europe, which has long flattered our country, but did not bother to receive an invitation to step over the threshold, relations, it seems, have been seriously and for a long time broken.