The AvtoVAZ site in Tolyatti
The Russian city of Togliatta (Tolyatti), near the Volga River in the Samara Oblast, is a struggling automotive manufacturing hub. Now the city’s economy is about to be boosted by a new hybrid car project that is the brainchild of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov – said to be the first project of its kind in the country. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has reportedly backed a proposal to build a pilot factory with a capacity of 10,000 vehicles, that will produce cars that run on liquified natural gas and gasoline, according to RIA Novosti.
Prokhorov said he had selected Togliatti in Russia’s Volga area as the site for the plant’s construction because the city has freely available production capacities and qualified personnel. It is the home to the country’s largest automaker AvtoVAZ, which has been apparently been struggling to stay afloat in recent years over its inability to offer competitive car models to consumers.
Unit cost will be around $10,000 with an annual output of 10,000 vehicles, reducing to about $7,500 if production increases to 100,000 cars.
The project is expected to generate new jobs by focusing on local production rather than imports and build a regional knowledge-based innovative economy.
Infrastructure, component quality and viable volume may present significant hurdles for the project, say analysts.
Russian Natural Gas Vehicle Association (NGVRUS) President Eugene Pronin said there are approximately 100,000 natural gas vehicles currently operating in his country, refuelling from 45 private and 199 public filling stations.
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