LUKOIL to supply Volkswagen with factory-fill lubricants in Kaluga, Russia
LUKOIL and Volkswagen Group Rus have signed an agreement under which the Russian oil company will supply factory-fill lubricants to the Kaluga plant of Germany’s automotive giant.
Kaluga, which is located 150 kilometres southwest of Moscow, is one of the centers of the Russian automotive industry. Volkswagen opened its vehicle assembly plant in Kaluga in 2007, which was further expanded in 2009. The plant currently assembles the Volkswagen Passat, Å koda Fabia and Å koda Rapid. Volkswagen also opened an engine plant in Kaluga in September 2015. A year later, on September 23, 2016, the company rolled out its 100,000th 1.6 MPI engine of the EA211 series from its production line.
“Thanks to our long-term strategy aimed at the local production strengthening, we have an opportunity to use engine production capacities effectively, installing 1.6 MPI engine in five models of the Group,” said Marcus Osegowitsch, general director of Volkswagen Group Rus, at that time.
The locally-produced petrol engine is installed in five models of the Volkswagen Group: the Volkswagen Polo and the Å koda Rapid assembled at the Kaluga plant, and the Volkswagen Jetta, the SKODA Octavia and the SKODA Yeti produced in Nizhny Novgorod.
Foreign companies such as Volkswagen are required to increase the local components of their vehicles, which are regulated by Russia’s Federal legislation. Volkswagen Group Rus has made significant progress in the process of production localization in Russia. The deal with LUKOIL has helped Volkswagen Group Rus to further improve localization of its production.
Specifically for this project, LUKOIL started production of LUKOIL GENESIS VS 5W-40 motor oil based on Volkswagen technology which meets the requirements of VW TL 52167 specification. Compliance to the ISO/TS 16949 international standard and the company’s own VW Formel Q standard, as well as to the strict incoming quality control at the Volkswagen plant, are required for suppliers of car parts and consumables, including lubricants.
LUKOIL produces about one million tonnes of lubricants per year in eight plants in Russia, Austria, Finland, Romania and Turkey. The company is the largest manufacturer in Russia, producing 45% of the total lubricants in the country.
