The domestic roadster project known as Crimea, a compact coupé built on a platform shared with the LADA Granta, is slated to enter small-scale production in 2023. This plan comes from project manager Dmitry Onishchenko, who outlines the initiative as a measured step toward offering a lively, budget-friendly two-seater to enthusiasts in North America and beyond.
Earlier announcements promised a two-seat variant would debut in 2022, following the completion of the final prototype. The team aimed to demonstrate the car’s potential in real-world road testing and gather early feedback from potential buyers in the United States and Canada as a proof of concept and market interest.
Onishchenko notes that the schedule shift was driven by the necessity to secure Vehicle Type Approval (OTTS) before year-end. Because the project operates within a university environment, resources are inherently more constrained than in a full-scale commercial program. This reality affects testing timelines, supply chain coordination, and the pace of refinements that bring the Crimea from prototype into everyday use on North American roads.
The release timeline for the Crimea will depend on available funding rounds and any collaborative opportunities with major automotive players such as AVTOVAZ. The team envisions a vehicle delivering 98 to 136 horsepower, with a target price range of 1 to 1.5 million rubles in the domestic market, while exploring export variants and importer partnerships for Canada and the United States.
Prototype experiences have already begun to inform both performance and user experience decisions. One early iteration was publicly shared through a feature in Drive, accessible via Telegram, which provided insights into handling, acceleration, and design choices in a straightforward, real-world format.
This discussion is grounded in reporting from Gazeta.ru and is complemented by visual materials published on vk.com related to the Crimea roadster project. The ongoing development reflects a growing interest in compact, affordable sports cars that can appeal to Canadian and American buyers seeking sporty styling with practical daily usability.
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