According to foreign media reports, the former Soviet era car brand "Moskvich" may "make a comeback" in Russia** Moscow mayor Sergei sobyanin said he would nationalize the Renault Moscow plant and then transform the plant to produce Moskvich branded passenger cars.
"Renault has decided to close the Moscow plant, but we can't let thousands of workers lose their jobs. In 2022, we will turn a new page in the history of Moskvich," sobyanin said
Initially, Moskvich was designed as a rugged and affordable passenger car and produced in the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the carmaker was privatized and later declared bankrupt. According to the data of autostat, Russia still has nearly 200000 registered Moskvich vehicles, of which 46000 have a service life of more than 35 years.
Sergei tselikov, head of autostat, said that sobyanin called Moskvich's car "legend", but for him, Moskvich's return may be very difficult. Asked about sobyanin's plan to revive Moskvich, tselikov said, "it takes at least two years and at least $1 billion to develop a new car."
Sobyanin said that Moskvich will initially produce traditional internal combustion engine vehicles at the Renault Moscow plant, but will produce electric vehicles in the future. He is working with the Russian Ministry of trade to purchase as many auto parts as possible from Russia, and the Russian truck manufacturer Kamaz will become the main technical partner of the plant.
Kamaz said in a statement that although the company supports the mayor's decision, issues related to technical cooperation are still under discussion. Once these issues are solved, Kamaz will issue a formal statement.