Jetta brand stirs controversy over unauthorized imports to Russia

The Jetta brand, owned by the Chinese joint venture FAW and Volkswagen, has officially appeared in Russia, reports "Rossijskaya Gazeta." The headquarters in Wolfsburg state that this is entirely untrue.

The new importer, FAW-Eastern Europe, has a network of 86 dealers spread across 50 cities in Russia, as reported by autostat.ru, citing "AutoBusinessReview." As we reported in April of this year, the Volkswagen Group knew that vehicles from joint venture companies could enter Russia through "unauthorized channels." More details about the whole process can be found below.

Unauthorized channels refer to the lack of involvement of the official importer. The vehicles reached Russia from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Finland. The scale of this phenomenon is difficult to estimate, though it is widely known to be significant.

Earlier, we reported that in January, Nie Qiang, deputy general manager of FAW-Volkswagen for commercial affairs, announced that "with the formal consent of both shareholders, Jetta has been authorized to export new cars."

The FAW Group informed the autonews.ru service that there are no concerns regarding sanctions. The Chinese side owns the rights. "We are talking about a completely independent brand, the products of which cannot be compared with the cars of the German partner."

I contacted a representative of the Volkswagen brand to confirm this information. The headquarters in Wolfsburg state:

The Jetta brand was created in 2019 to sell less expensive Volkswagen models in China. VW, as a foreign entity, could not manufacture in China, hence the partnership with FAW.

For example, the Jetta VA3, similar to the Volkswagen Polo, only has a partially galvanized body. It is a product tailored to the Chinese customer: it does not have heated seats in any configuration, nor does the backrest of the rear bench fold. A difficulty with these "gray" Jettas is the untranslated multimedia systems. Under the hood, we have an engine from the German EA111 family.

According to a local news service from Chelyabinsk, Russia, the brand's official appearance in Russia is a formality. Dealers are not pursuing an aggressive policy due to sanctions and are trying to avoid associations with Volkswagen. Clients are to learn about the brand through word of mouth.