KALUGA, March 27. /TASS/. PSMA Rus LLC plant in Kaluga, which was idle from April 2022 to December 2023, launched mass production of Citroen brand crossovers after three months of testing, according to TASS correspondent.

The plant halted manufacturing in 2022, when other European automakers also decided to suspend work in Russia. PMSA Rus halted operations due to a component shortage and supply chain difficulties caused by the sanctions against Russia. Until December 2023, Russia did not produce a single model from the European vehicle sector. The PSMA Rus facility started test production of passenger cars in December 2023, although the model and brand were not disclosed.

According to Director for Strategic Development at Automobile Technologies Pavel Bezruchenko, the C5 Aircross model will be available for purchase in mid-May 2024.

"As you may know, we launched the first batch of 48 vehicles in December. Now everything is ready for mass production," he said.

Citroen C5 Aircross is the only European model produced in Russia. Automobile Technologies acts as an importer, distributor, and manufacturer of the vehicles. The Kaluga plant became a rented production facility.

The Kaluga region was home to automobile facilities for Volkswagen, Volvo, and PSMA Rus, as well as car parts makers. Before the PSMA downtime, they built Peugeot 408, Traveller, Expert, Partner и Partner Crossway, Opel Combo Cargo, Combo Life, Zafira Life and Vivaro, Citroёn С4, SpaceTourer, Jumpy, Berlingo Multispace and Berlingo, as well as Mitsubishi Outlander and Pajero Sport models.