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AVTOVAZ to raise LADA Granta’s prices by 5% on average starting from April 1

The new model was designed with the use of Renault-Nissan digital technologies and methods

SAMARA, March 12 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s major carmaker AVTOVAZ plans to increase the recommended retail prices for the LADA Granta model by five percent on average starting from April 1, 2012, , the carmaker’s press centre said on Monday.

LADA Granta is a car of economy class with front-wheel drive, which is designated on the Kalina platform, but it will be more safe, modern and comfortable than Kalina. AVTOVAZ started the production of LADA Grantas in two basic versions – “standard” and “normal.”

The new LADA is mainly designed for the Russian market, but the management of AVTOVAZ does not ruled out the possibility of starting exports of the car to Western Europe, the press centre said earlier.

The new model was designed with the use of Renault-Nissan digital technologies and methods. Granta has an eight-valve engine with a volume of 1.6 litres, which makes a car of the model comfortable both inside and outside of a city. The maximum speed is 167 kilometres per hour. Fuel consumption in a mixed regime slightly exceeds seven litres per 100 kilometres.

Starting from April 1, the car price in the “standard” version will be established at 239,000 roubles (USD 1 = RUB 29.67) (which is 4.4 percent more than the initial price), while a car in the “normal” version will cost 269,000 roubles (5.1-percent growth) and 275,000 roubles (a 5.8-percent increase), the press centre said, adding that previously the cars of this model considered as the lowest-priced cars built in Europe.

In addition, the company envisages one more equipment level of LADA Granta, which will envisage a list of features making a car more comfortable for its owners and passengers. This version of the car will cost 279,000 roubles, the press centre said.

The AVTOVAZ press centre stated that all buyers, who ordered LADA Granta through to the Internet in 2011, will receive their cars at the prices, which were announced initially – the “standard” version for 229,000 roubles and the “normal” version for 256,000 roubles.

AVTOVAZ is Russia’s major car manufacturer, also known as VAZ, Volzhsky Auto Plant, and better known to the world as LADA, was set up in the late 1960s in collaboration with Italy’s Fiat. It is 25 percent owned by French giant Renault.

It produces nearly one million cars a year, including the Kalina, LADA110 and the NIVA off-road vehicles.

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