At the beginning of this spring, the factory in Togliatti will finally begin to assemble a redesigned version of the Lada Vesta, and its launch will take place at the end of February 2022, AvtoVAZ’s press service told socialbites.ca. Last winter, AvtoVAZ managed to produce only about 800 vehicles at the plant in Izhevsk before production was stopped. Soon the site itself ceased to function and Vesta production affected in Tolyatti.
Later, AvtoVAZ plans to resume production of the Largus station wagon, which was interrupted by a lack of components. The company has promised to launch an experimental batch of electric cars based on this model in Izhevsk by the end of the year. A modification of the Lada Niva Sport is also being developed by the VAZ team, and at the Nissan plant in St. Petersburg, after the decision to transfer it to the Russian auto giant, the latter plans to start producing cars under contract.
“St. Production in St. Petersburg will begin in the second half of the year. It is planned to release several cars from the C and D segments – SUVs and sedans.
With a production volume of up to 10,000 cars in 2023, everything will depend on the state of demand in the market, AvtoVAZ spokesman Sergey Ilyinsky told socialbites.ca.
He added that difficulties with the supply of components remain, but the situation is under control.
“Chinese” at Nissan
The resumption of the work of the St. Petersburg Nissan enterprise will begin, according to the same principle as the former Renault plant (now MAZ Moskvich), with the participation of Chinese partners and the replacement of emblems on cars, the founder of the Russian Automobile. He told the Telegram channel Gazeta.ru to Sergei Tsyganov.
“This is pure Chinese with Lada nameplates and the simplest AvtoVAZ project this year. The factory will assemble new models of a very well-known company. I know two models
these cars were not sold in Russia, and when they are released, it will be almost a world launch, ”Tsyganov shared information, citing sources close to AvtoVAZ.
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, is confident that the Nissan plant will produce cars from China that have not been presented on the Russian market before.
“We can safely say that this will be something new for us. Thus, it will be possible to avoid unnecessary rumors, comparisons, as in Moskvich. At the first stage, an SKD assembly will be held.
Basically, there will be 100% Chinese cars bearing our emblems, there is no other way to do anything in such a short time,” says Kadakov.
The source believes that AvtoVAZ can cooperate with several well-known Chinese car brands at once.
“The cars will be positioned much higher in size and price than the current Lada range – they were designed for a different buyer.
As of today, the cost of such cars will be at least 2 million rubles,” Kadakov predicts.
without brake
In the spring, AvtoVAZ will not be able to solve the problems with the supply of components from China, Sergey Tsyganov knows that the first cars will be produced without an anti-lock braking system (ABS).
At first, the updated Vesta will be allowed in basic configurations and will only be equipped with manual transmissions, he says. According to the reporter, an automatic transmission from one of the well-known Chinese automakers has already been selected for the Vesta and work is underway to adapt it to the model.
Assembly of Vesta can begin in early February and sales will begin in March,
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, is sure.
“The cars will only be manual 5-speed. At first they will only be equipped with 8-valve engines with a capacity of 90 hp, and from May the line will be replenished with more powerful 16-valve units. I think the option with automatic transmission will be available in the first half of 2024,” said Kadakov and mentioned the information he gave about the model.
Updated Niva
Another innovation of AvtoVAZ in 2023 will be the Lada Niva Sport SUV. About the release of this model Maxim Sokolov, head of the Volga Automobile Plant announced in the fall of last year. According to him, the car will receive a “more powerful and high-torque engine”, the SUV is being modernized by the sports division of AvtoVAZ, Lada Sport.
“Some of the developments in Niva Sport can be transferred to the Niva Legend, the main modernization of which is scheduled for the end of this year or the beginning of 2024.
“In particular, it is planned to equip the car with electric headlight corrector, LED side lights and lanterns, and improve sound insulation,” Tsyganov said.
The debut of the Lada Niva Sport is expected in the second half of the year, the production volume of the model will be small.
“The SUV will be equipped with one of the well-known transverse engines and will most likely be mounted longitudinally. It could be a 1.8 liter engine.
“It’s possible that the car will get a body kit with fender extensions and look like a brightly colored rally raid,” said Kadakov of Behind the Wheel magazine.
electric caterpillar
Sergey Tsyganov believes that an electric car project based on Largus will be unprofitable, even if we assume that the model will find its consumer with a circulation of tens of thousands of cars per year.
“AvtoVAZ took 1.5-2 years to repay Lada Vesta, because the logistics are crazy: Tolyatti’s main body panels and all the little things from the Dimitrovgrad auto-assembly plant were brought to Izhevsk, hundreds of kilometers away. With Lada e-Largus, the situation repeats itself – the entire assembly line is located in Togliatti, and they want to make an electric car in Izhevsk, ”explains Tsyganov.
As for the traditional gasoline Lada Largus, he believes that there should be no problems with the resumption of production of this modification.
According to socialbites.ca’s interlocutors, some foreign suppliers working with the Renault-Nissan concern continue to interact with the Russian plant. The founder of Russian Car is far from the fact that from the design of Largus everything will be localized in Russia, there is no need for this, he believes that it is cheaper to overcome obstacles and buy components from abroad.
instead of Granta
In February 2022, AvtoVAZ announced that it is working on a new family of B-class cars under its own name to replace the Lada Granta family.
Now this car is ready for production, but a problem with the components is preventing everything.
“In this project, all that remains is to sign it and put it into production, the vehicle has been ready for a long time. The problem is arranging deliveries, which mostly depend on Romania, Turkey and China. If AvtoVAZ solves the problem with components for Largus, then it will be possible to solve them for its successor Granta,” summarized Sergey Tsiganov.