In mid-May this year, Renault held a controlling stake of 68 percent in AVTOVAZ, but asset management shifted to FSUE NAMI, the design institute, under a six-year buy-back option. Alongside this change, the entity known as Renault Russia, which had produced the Duster, Kaptur, and Arkana crossovers, was redirected to city administration and renamed Moskvich. This renaming signals a broader shift in branding and corporate identity within the Russian automotive ecosystem, while keeping the underlying manufacturing footprint in the region active under new governance.
Recent developments reveal that AVTOVAZ has completed the assembly of Renault-branded vehicles on its Togliatti site. Specifically, the second-generation Logan and Sandero families have been finished in collaboration with the PAP B0 line, which includes the Largus and XRAY models. Simultaneously, the factory prepared for the third-generation Logan and Sandero on the CMFB platform, signaling a strategic intent to align product offerings with modern modular architectures while leveraging local production capabilities.
According to the Avtograd News community on the social network VKontakte, as of May 27, the last two Sandero units reached the shipping warehouse after post-production testing. The production areas and Renault-specific lines have no active machinery at this time, with some units awaiting dispatch at the designated shipping location. This snapshot underscores a broader pause in Renault-based output, even as continuity in the Lada division remains a parallel thread within AVTOVAZ’s manufacturing mix.
Industry observers note that the lines dedicated to parts and components for the Renault model family have been shut down indefinitely. Workers on those lines are being offered transfers to other sectors of the plant or potentially to new roles, reflecting a broader workforce reallocation amid the transitional period. The situation hints at a longer horizon for a resumed Renault-branded program, should strategic decisions converge in the future.
The resurgence of Renault-branded assembly at AVTOVAZ, even in the form of rebadged Lada models, remains uncertain. There is, however, persistent interest in reviving Duster production under the Lada banner if market and policy conditions align, though observers agree that any such restart would be a longer-term proposition rather than an immediate shift.
A visual record accompanies these updates, featuring Valery Kartashov alongside AVTOVAZ leadership and facilities, highlighting the ongoing connection between the design-and-production ecosystem and the people who oversee its evolution.