ELABUGA /Republic of Tatarstan /, May 31. /TASS/. The first Aurus Senat premium cars will hit the forecourts of dealerships next week, Aurus CEO Adil Shirinov told reporters.

"The first cars will go to our partners for distribution in June. Starting from next week, the first cars will go to partner showrooms and will be put up for sale," he said.

Shirinov refused to disclose the number of orders for Aurus cars, citing trade secrecy.

The serial production of Aurus cars began at the Ford Sollers plant in Elabuga, in the Russian republic of Tatarstan on Monday.

The minimum price of Aurus Senat cars will be 18 mln rubles ($245,000). As earlier reported, the first batch of cars from the production line will come with a high level of options and a price of 22 mln rubles ($300,000). The car plant can produce up to 5,000 vehicles per year.

The Aurus Senat will be available in six colors, and the range may be expanded in the future.

The four-wheel drive Aurus Senat is one of the largest luxury sedans, the volume of the hybrid engine developed by NAMI (Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute) is 4.4 liters. The car is 5.6 meters long and weighs 3.2 tonnes. The official maximum speed is 250 km/h, and it accelerates to 100 km/h in six seconds.

The Elabuga plant is also planning to produce the Aurus Komendant SUV.

The car was supposed to be presented at the Moscow Motor Show in 2020, but the event was canceled due to the pandemic.

Aurus is the first Russian premium car brand created from scratch by NAMI. Special versions of Aurus cars are used in the special purpose garage of FSO (Federal Protection Service) for travel by the Prime Minister and the President of the Russian Federation. The shareholders of the Aurus company are NAMI (63.5%), The UEA’s Tawazun Defense Security&Development Fund (36%) and Sollers (0.5%).