Haier, the appliance manufacturer, has opened a new factory in Russia in response to increasing demand from the European market.
Haier, the appliance manufacturer, has opened a new factory in Russia in response to increasing demand from the European market.
The new 24,500m2 site is located in Kama Industrial Park (KIP), Naberezhnye Chelny.
This is the first joint Russian-Chinese business project in the non-primary industry. Dedicated to the production of refrigeration machinery, it is also Haier’s first step of localising in Russia as an additional asset to pursue its growth plans throughout Europe.
At the opening ceremony, Sun Zhenhua, general manager of Haier Russia, and Yannick Fierling, ceo of Haier Europe, also announced the creation of an R&D centre in the Naberzhnye Chelny region.
In 2008, Haier opened its official representative office in Russia. At the time, its range of products included two categories of major appliances: refrigerators and washing machines. Today, Haier produces more than 100 different models, including refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, home and industrial air conditioners, TV sets, water heaters, electric stoves, gas boilers, smartphones and tablets.
The company continues to raise its service network with 196 service centres in more than 120 Russian cities to date. Since 2010, Haier’s turnover in Russia has increased tenfold.
Yannick Fierling, CEO, Haier Europe said: “This new factory should also allow us to improve productivity and be more proactive towards the European market while meeting shorter deadlines of distribution. Even though our production facility in China could meet most of the European market needs, we still want to be competitive in terms of logistics flexibility; in order to reinforce Haier’s position in a market dominated by other established household electrical appliance manufacturers. For us, the key to successful globalisation is successful localisation and getting closer to target markets and end users.”