IZHEVSK, January 29 (Itar-Tass) – Russia’s biggest carmaker AVTOVAZ will start the comprehensive upgrading of its model range at the Togliatti-based plant in 2015-2016, AVTOVAZ President Igor Komarov told reporters here on Tuesday.
“The serious tasks that face us in the future are aimed at the upgrading of the model range. In 2014, we plan to launch the production of LADA Granta hatchback in Izhevsk. And in 2015 and 2016, we are going to start a large-scale upgrading of the model range at the Togliatti-based enterprise,” Komarov said.
In his words, this year AVTOVAZ plans to produce roughly 800,000 cars and car units of all brands, including LADA, Renault and Nissan. “We hope that the plan will not be cut and our cars will be sold in compliance with our plan,” Komarov said.
The company’s production and sale plans will not change considerably compared to 2012, he said, adding that the plans envisage the additional amounts from the alliance partners – Renault and Nissan.
This year, the company hopes for “more serious and positive profit expectations,” the AVTOVAZ president said. “We could not rule out the possibility of a certain decline in the car sales in Russia, in spite of the present-day stabilization on the market,” he said.
AVTOVAZ is one of Europe’s biggest car-manufacturers. The company has produced more than 27 million cars since 1970. The launch of the production of the Nissan brand cars in 2012 turned AVTOVAZ into a multi-brand carmaker.
In 2012, the company sold more than 718,000 cars and car units, thus beating the target of production and sales.