After Renault’s withdrawal from Russia because of Western sanctions, production is now taking place in the former Moscow plant of the French carmaker Moskvichs. At first, only petrol engines rolled off the assembly line, later electric Moscow ones as well. Sales will start in early 2023.
Under the pressure of Western sanctions, series production of a new model of the Soviet cult car Moskvich (German: Moscow) has started in Moscow. According to the Interfax news agency, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin took part in the reopening of the Moskvich plant after the departure of the previous major shareholder Renault.
The Moskvich 3 is therefore a copy of the Chinese city SUV JAC S4. In Russia, it will initially be manufactured as a petrol engine with a 150 hp engine. An electric variant should also roll off the assembly line by the end of the year, it said. The sale is planned for the first quarter of 2023.
The truck manufacturer Kamaz is the technological partner of the plant, which is to produce 600 vehicles this year. The ultimate goal is to build 100,000 Moskvichs per year.
The Russian Ministry of Industry announced that Moskvich production would secure around 40,000 jobs in Russia. The auto sector is one of the industries hardest hit by sanctions imposed by Western states over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. From January to October, new car sales in Russia fell 60 percent year-on-year after the departure of Western manufacturers.
The Moskvitch was produced in the Soviet Union since 1946 – initially as a copy of the German Opel Kadett. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the plant ran into financial difficulties. Renault founded a joint venture with the city of Moscow in 1998, which operated under the name of OAO Autoframos. The Renault Megane was then built in what was then the Moskvich plant.
Production of the last mass-produced Moskvich model 2141 (“Svyatogor”) was discontinued in 2001 because it was not competitive. Insolvency proceedings were initiated against the group in 2006. Renault later took over the plant and secured the jobs.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Renault sold its majority stake in automaker Avtovaz to the Russian state for allegedly one ruble in May, but was given a six-year buyback option. The French also sold their plant, now renamed the Moscow Automobile Plant Moskvich, for another ruble.
