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Russia resumed production of Soviet-era Moskvich-branded cars on Wednesday at a factory abandoned by French carmaker Renault near Moscow after a two-year hiatus, Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade said. It is understood that the Moskvich brand was the pride of the Russian capital between 1946 and 2001, and its name was translated as "Moscow" or "Muscovites", but the popularity of cars gradually faded after the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union. The manufacturer subsequently declared bankruptcy in 2006. There are still nearly 200000 Moskvich-branded cars registered in Russia, of which more than 45000 have been in use for more than 35 years, according to analyst firm Autostat.

KAMAZ, a Russian truck maker, said in a press release that the Moskvich brand expects to produce 600 cars by the end of 2022, of which 200 will be electric vehicles, which should be available for purchase in December. Meanwhile, KAMAZ plans to rapidly increase production, with the goal of assembling at least 50, 000 cars by 2023 and at least 100000 by 2024. KAMAZ Director General Sergey Kogogin said in a statement: "We are pleased that the development of KAMAZ will serve the further development of the Russian automobile industry in accordance with the global trend of high-tech and environmentally friendly vehicles.

The Moskvich model will adopt a brand-new Chinese modern design, which is completely different from the design in the Soviet era, confirming the relevant reports about the change of the Jianghuai standard. According to the plan, the Moskvich brand will produce four cross-border cars and one car. In terms of appearance, the Moskvich 3 is the Sihao X4. The first Moskvich 3 vehicles will be released in December 2022 and will be officially launched in Russia next month, but the price has not yet been announced. According to reports, Moskvich uses Jianghuai's design, engineering and platform, parts are also from China, and the display vehicle is also affixed with some Jianghuai labels with part codes. However, Maxim Klyushkin, the plant's project manager, declined to confirm that Jianghuai was a partner, saying only that "KAMAZ is our external partner and we also have a remote partner", but "we can't say which one".

"in the near future, our task is to establish a small node assembly process with the participation of local suppliers by the end of 2023," Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in a statement. The department said full production would provide jobs for about 40,000 people.

At the end of May, a "big earthquake" occurred in the Russian car market. As a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the French carmaker Renault Group announced the Russian market and will sell Volga cars (including factories), which have been in operation for many years, to NAMI, a Russian government-backed car research and development center, for 1 rouble.

Data show that Lada is the largest Russian automaker and is a brand of AvtoVAZ. French automaker Renault participated in AvtoVAZ restructuring and became its controlling shareholder in 2004. Renault entered the Russian automobile production of Lada cars and Renault brands, both of which accounted for 1/3 of Russia's total car sales. Data show that Russia sold 1.667 million cars in 2021, of which 351000 Lada cars were sold, accounting for 21% of Russian car sales and 12% of Renault car sales. Russia has become Renault's second largest car market after France. However, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States against Russia dealt a heavy blow to Renault's production and operation in the Russian market, and announced on February 28 that it would stop production at its factory in Moscow. On March 23, it was decided to stop all activities at the factory in Moscow indefinitely.

Under the influence of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States, the Russian car market has suffered a major blow. Data show that Russian car sales fell 60.8 per cent year-on-year to 502474 in the first 10 months of 2022, with Lada car sales down 51.5 per cent to 142910 and Renault down 68.3 per cent to 34089. However, under the background that foreign businessmen such as Renault, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda have announced their withdrawal from the Russian market, Chinese independent brands have made great progress in this market. In October sales, for example, the Harvard brand was second only to Lada cars, down 7.8 per cent from a year earlier to 3912 vehicles, accounting for 9.8 per cent of the Russian market. In addition, Geely brand sales fell 1.7 per cent year-on-year to 2950 vehicles, accounting for 6.5 per cent of the Russian market.

As for the "Muscovite" brand, why did it choose the Chinese car brand as the goal of resuming production? First of all, it takes at least two years and at least $1 billion to develop a new car from scratch, and the current situation in Russia is very difficult to provide good conditions for development. Secondly, the sense of existence of Chinese brands in Russia is getting higher and higher. The market share of Chinese brands in Russia is only 2% in 2019, but it has reached 7% in 2021, and under the background that more and more foreign businessmen choose to withdraw from the Russian market, Chinese brands are determined to develop the Russian market, and Harvard, Chery and Geely brands stand out. However, although Jianghuai Motor also has passenger cars sold in Russia, the sense of existence is not very strong. Industry insiders say the departure of overseas brands is likely to be a new opportunity for Chinese car brands, which seek overseas expansion and predict that more Chinese brands are likely to seek to establish a Russian production base in the future.

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