During last five years the Saint Petersburg authorities invested great effort in attracting global auto manufacturers to choose the city as a location for their production in Russia. In very short time to the already operating in Leningrad region Ford and Scania Motors several new companies were added. As part of their agreement with the Russian Ministry for Economic Development, automobile manufacturers made certain commitments to increase yearly local content in automobiles produced in Russia.  The next step of the city authorities was to try and attract manufacturers of auto components.

The creation of an automobile cluster in Russia in less than 200 km from Finland may offer attractive opportunities to Finnish companies. The extent to which these opportunities are tangible and the way to utilize them are the central questions the
report tries to answer.