Ford suspends Russian operations following invasion of Ukraine

Ford Motor Co., in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said on Tuesday it informed joint venture partner Sollers it is immediately suspending operations in Russia until further notice

Ford said it does not have significant operations in Ukraine.

Ford also said the Ford Fund is making a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund for humanitarian aid to assist displaced Ukrainian citizens and families.

“We at Ford are deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the safety of the Ukrainian people,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on Twitter.

With the decision, Ford joins a growing group of companies that are leaving Russia or pausing operations, including General Motors and Harley-Davidson Inc. Huge oil producers BP Plc and Shell Plc, along with prominent players in other sectors, such as Apple Inc., made similar moves.

Ford’s business in Russia is small and has been downsized over the past three years. There were just 22,000 of its vehicles -- including Ford-branded automobiles produced by an unconsolidated affiliate -- sold there last year, according to regulatory filings.

The automaker had said in 2019 it was closing three factories in Russia, pulling out of a car market where it was once a pioneer as part of a broader overhaul of its money-losing European operations. That decision was made as an economic slowdown and western sanctions dimmed the outlook for what many automakers had long seen as a key growth market.

Russia has not been a big market for American automakers. GM sold just 3,000 vehicles, mostly Cadillac luxury SUVs, there.

While scrutinizing weak-performing operations, GM had shut down its plant in St. Petersburg in 2015 and kept only a small retail operation selling expensive models. At the time, Ford tried to boost its operations there, only to see sanctions and an economic slowdown hurt vehicle sales.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report.