In 1999 Ford dipped a toe in the water with a small assembly plant near St Petersburg, and in the same year GM went for a seemingly risky joint venture with AvtoVAZ (at the time a byword for corruption and gangsterism) to produce an improved version of the Niva, a cheap SUV.
Earlier this month Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Mr Crabb also questioned a call by the Tory assembly group to make St David's Day a public holiday in Wales - a long standing Welsh Conservative policy.