TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota has ended production of the Land Cruiser Prado SUV in Russia but said it has no plans to pull out of the crisis-hit market.
Toyota built the SUV in Vladivostok, eastern Russia, under a joint venture with Japanese trading firm Mitsui & Co and Russian automaker Sollers. Production was discontinued in late June, a Toyota spokeswoman said.
Toyota now exports about 1,030 Land Cruisers per month to Russia from its plant in Tahara, Japan, she said. This is about the same number previously assembled at the Vladivostok plant.
Toyota remains bullish on Russia, saying it has no plans to pull out of the country. It said its plan to double annual output to 100,000 units at its now only Russian plant in St. Petersburg by the end of this year is still on track.
"There will be waves in the [Russian] market but we want to increase sales, not shrink," the spokeswoman said.
Toyota currently builds the Camry midsize sedan in St. Petersburg and will add the RAV4 SUV next year, according to Automotive News Europe's interactive assembly plant map.
Global automakers have been struggling to maintain sales in the once-promising Russian market. Vehicle sales have halved from their peaks in 2012-2013 as lower oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian conflict fuel an economic crisis.
In the first seven months, sales fell 35 percent to 913,181 vehicles, according to data from the Association of European Businesses in Russia. Toyota’s brand sales fell by 37 percent in the same period.
General Motors Co. said in March it would shut its St. Petersburg plant this year to cope with a prolonged sales slump.
