Russia’s Mercedes-Benz Group Severs its Connection with Kamaz

The remaining 15% of Mercedes-Benz Group’s ownership in Russian commercial vehicle manufacturer Kamaz has been sold. The automaker’s representative announced that all contractual obligations had been fulfilled and the required regulatory permissions had been obtained.

Mercedes-Benz is the most recent western automaker to sever all connections with Russia as a result of the agreement’s withdrawal. In September 2021, just before it was renamed Mercedes-Benz Group and the Daimler Truck division was spun off as part of the Project Focus reorganization, Daimler acquired the 15% stake in Kamaz from Daimler Truck.

After investing €200 million ($215 million) in a new cabin facility and localizing over 150 components, Daimler Kamaz Rus established a plant in Naberezhnye Chelny in 2010 to assemble trucks from complete knockdown (CKD) kits shipped in containers from the Mercedes-Benz Trucks plant in Wörth, Germany. However, the truck cabins were later made locally.

Following Daimler Truck’s spinoff, Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck ended up splitting the Kamaz share, with Daimler Truck having to write up €200 million in assets in its May 2022 filing.

Mercedes-Benz only disclosed that it had selected the company through a formal sales process; it did not disclose the buyer or the amount it sold its Kamaz stake for. The other two significant stockholders are Rostec and Avtoinvest.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Daimler Truck ceased cooperation with Kamaz. In late 2022, Mercedes-Benz made the announcement that it was leaving the Russian market. It sold former auto dealer Avtodom interests in its industrial and financial services section in February 2023.

Since then, despite a shortage of components, Kamaz and other Russian automakers have carried on with their business activities.