After Renault got out of Russia’s largest automaker Lada and many imported cars are no longer available, Putin’s auto industry has to make do with on-board resources. Now the ancient brand Moskvich is to return – even with electric cars.
Hard times are coming for Russia’s motorists. Not only that popular luxury SUVs from Mercedes or BMW are no longer imported, at least not legally anymore; the Russians can no longer buy bread-and-butter cars from VW or Toyota as new because of the sanctions. Most recently, Renault withdrew from Russia and sold its shares in the Russian market leader Lada.
Lada wants to continue building its models – including the crossover X-Ray or the people’s car Vesta – although it is unclear how long this will work without partial supplies from abroad. Because many Lada models now have Renault technology on board.
Probably in order to cut the last ties with the West, Russia now even wants to revive an old Soviet car brand: the Moskvitch (“Son of Moscow”). Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that the Soviet cult car would be produced again in the future.
Regarding Renault’s decision, Sobyanin said: “It is your right, but we cannot allow a collective of many thousands of workers to remain unemployed.” That is why it was decided to take over the plant and restart car production under the “historical brand Moskvich.” An attempt is being made to retain most of the workforce.
Moskvitch has a long tradition in Russia. In the 1930s of the last century, Ford models were first built under license in a factory called KIM (“Communist International of Youth”) in Moscow. Later the Moskvitch 400 was produced, which was based on the Opel Kadett of the time. In the 1950s, new models followed, which were based on western cars in terms of design – less in terms of technology, including the 403, 407 and 408 models.
As early as the 1960s, there was technical cooperation between the Russians and Renault. Models such as the Moskvich 412 introduced in 1968 – after all, equipped with a modern four-cylinder engine with overhead camshaft and with 80 hp top speed over 140 km/h – were also exported abroad, even in a right-hand drive version to Great Britain.
In the GDR, the robust cars, which, despite their thick sheet metal, tended to rust, were popular as “Mossis” and suitable for bad roads, although not as popular as the Lada models. Technologically, the brand, like the Trabant in the GDR, stayed in the 1950s for a long time. More modern models such as the Aleko no longer made the connection to the car world and were of inferior quality. Moskvich finally went bankrupt in 2006.
According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the technology partner for the rebirth of the Moscow automobile plant will now be the Russian car giant Kamaz, which mainly builds trucks. In a first stage, combustion engines are to be produced. Electric cars were to be added later. Kamaz and the Ministry of Industry and Trade are also in the process of locating the production of a maximum number of suppliers in Russia, Sobyanin said: “In 2022 we will open a new chapter in the “Moskvich” story.”
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