MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Aurus, the Russian producer of top-class cars, will establish production of a new line of business class cars at the former Toyota plant in St. Petersburg together with a foreign partner, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told reporters.

"This (production) will be jointly with industrial foreign partners. <…> At the end of the year there will be the first copies of industrial assembly," Manturov said.

When asked whether the cars will be assembled at the former Toyota site, he replied: "Yes, that’s true."

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the model range will be quite wide and will include at least four models.

In an interview with TASS earlier this year, Manturov spoke about Aurus' plans to launch production of a new line of business-class cars in a more affordable price segment. Then he noted that sales were planned to start in 2025.

Aurus is the first Russian luxury car brand, which started to be built in 2013 under a contract with the Industry and Trade Ministry. The project stipulates the lineup will develop to replace current cars used by government officials and to go on sale for the general public. Standard production of the cars started at an Aurus plant in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, in May 2021.