Бывший завод General Motors в Петербурге возобновит производство автомобилей в 2026 году — Мантуров

The former General Motors plant in St. Petersburg, which has been idle since 2015, will be restarted. Full-cycle car production will begin as early as 2026. This was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov in an interview with RIA Novosti. The site has effectively been created anew.

The government is now finalizing negotiations with investors on other idle plants — in Shushary (the former Toyota site) and Nizhny Novgorod (the former Volkswagen-Skoda plant). These facilities may also return to life in the coming years, becoming part of a new stage in the development of the domestic automotive industry.

The General Motors plant in St. Petersburg was opened in 2008. Popular Chevrolet and Opel models were assembled on its assembly line — Cruze, Antara, Mokka, Trailblazer, as well as Cadillac. In the spring of 2015, after the American concern left the Russian market, the enterprise was mothballed. In 2020, the plant was bought by the Russian structure of Hyundai, and in early 2024, the asset was transferred to Art-Finance, which owns the AGR Automobile Plant, where Solaris cars are produced today.

Interest in the site has not waned. In March 2025, dozens of new Chery Tiggo 7L crossovers and Solaris KRX cross-hatchbacks were spotted at the plant. At the same time, rumors appeared that Jaecoo J7 and J8 SUVs, as well as a business sedan comparable in size to the Toyota Camry or Hongqi H5, would soon begin to be assembled on the GM line. These plans have not been officially confirmed, but the observations themselves showed that the enterprise is indeed preparing for a restart.

Read also materials on the topic:

• Almost all car factories in Russia left by foreign companies are already operating
• Localization of the Jaecoo J7 crossover will begin at the former GM plant in Shushary
• The former GM plant in St. Petersburg will be mothballed by 2026