Russia to revive car production after 20 years

Russia is striving on multiple fronts to make its economy more self-sufficient. One step is to rebuild its automotive industry, of which they were proud in the days of the Soviet Union.

It will be a successor to the Moskvich car, but it will have a different design that will be based in China and will be very similar to a car from the Chinese brand JAC.

Close up of a vintage soviet Moskvich logo

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For Russia, this car brand is a source of national pride as it refers to their capital city and historically had its era between 1946 and 2001, so it has accompanied the entire modern Russian history.

Electric cars will also be produced

The factory is part of an eight-year deal with Kamaz, which came up with the full news on its website.

The first cars are expected to be available this year, and both regular cars with internal combustion engines and electric cars will be produced. By the end of 2022, 600 cars are expected to be produced, 200 of which will be electric.

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Then in 2023, production should begin in earnest and at least 50,000 cars are expected to be assembled, of which 10,000 should be electric. In 2024, production should increase to 100,000 cars, of which 20,000 should be electric.

Of course, these are not numbers that can be measured against other major car companies. Tesla, for example, is expected to produce over 750,000 cars in 2022 at its Shanghai factory alone, for comparison.

Renault’s factory is used for production

French carmaker Renault sold its assets to the state after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so their factory will be used just for the renewed production of Moskviches.

For example, Renault owned a majority stake in the Avtovaz car company and also in Renault Russia. However, both of these assets were sold for a symbolic 1 ruble, and thus it was more of a divestment than a sale in economic terms. However, Renault still has a 6-year option to buy back the Avtovaz assets.