A recent organizational reshuffle at AVTOVAZ has reshaped the personnel management framework in a manner that surprises many observers. In a report titled “Atypical AVTOVAZ,” it is noted that the number of vice presidents at the company has been halved, shrinking from sixteen to eight positions.
The analysis indicates that AVTOVAZ no longer maintains vice presidents responsible for quality, design, logistics, programs and products, technology, product engineering, business planning, or industrial services. Some executives who previously held these roles have been downgraded to directorate status, while others have disappeared from the official structure altogether.
According to some sources, a cluster of divisions and their leaders — including the vice presidents and directors for design, technology, industrial strategy, and programs and products — now report to a newly established vice president for engineering, Evgeny Shmelev. There are claims that the former roles of chief designer and chief technologist, positions with historical roots dating back to the Soviet era, are being reinstated within the plant’s hierarchy.
Meanwhile, the heads of other key departments—strategy and technical development, production, sales and marketing, purchasing, finance, human resources and social policy, external relations and shareholder engagement, and security and regime—have retained their leadership roles, maintaining continuity in several critical functions.
In effect, AVTOVAZ appears to be moving back toward a management framework that was in place prior to Renault-Nissan’s entry into the alliance in 2005, signaling a strategic shift toward a more centralized or differently structured leadership model.
- AVTOVAZ’s new president, Maxim Sokolov, has stated that Lada vehicles configured for anti-crisis scenarios can be obtained through a softened loan program.
- Additionally, the company’s DRIVE initiative is now accessible for streaming on RuTube, expanding public access to its media content.