Chinese Dongfeng cars will not be assembled in Izhevsk, just as FAW cars will not be assembled at the former Nissan plant near St. Petersburg
AvtoVAZ previously announced joint projects with «eastern partners» (in fact, a large plant near St. Petersburg, which previously belonged to Nissan, was even allocated for them), but something doesn’t work with them. According to rumors, they planned to start assembling two Dongfeng models in Izhevsk, but, according to an auto expert and author of the Telegram channel «Russian Automobile» Sergei Tsyganov, fruitful cooperation within the framework of this project never happened.
«The firms were supposed to announce their cooperation by the end of this year. But obviously this won't happen. Although back in the summer there was talk of assembling at least two models in Izhevsk, the AX7 crossover and some kind of sedan. Dongfeng himself hinted in every possible way not only about the assembly of cars, but also the localization of individual units. But in September, VAZ came under sanctions and Dongfeng somehow quickly stopped dropping hints. In general, VAZ no longer has a full-fledged Chinese partner to load the plant in Izhevsk. Or not yet», – reports «Russian car».
As for the Lada X-Cross 5 crossover (aka FAW Bestune T77), the assembly of which was announced back in the summer, then, according to Sergey Tsyganov, «the story with FAW they will try not to pedal, stretch it out in time and quietly, quietly pretend that nothing like that happened». Today, the first step has already been taken: mention of the crossover has disappeared from the official Lada website. And although in St. Petersburg today we saw a car transporter with ready-made Lada X-Cross 5, we are talking about only a few dozen cars that still managed to be assembled.
«Someone today saw a car transporter with a FAW Lada X-cross 5, but there is nothing unexpected in this: a certain number of cars were assembled, plus they remained at the factory still unassembled bodies. All this wealth needs to go somewhere. What is VAZ’s strategic plan, what will it do with the finished Lada X-cross 5 – I don't know», – told by Sergey Tsyganov.
In fact, out of three potential eastern partners, VAZ now has only one left – this is Chery. According to the expert, preparations for the assembly of Chery crossovers at the former Nissan plant are proceeding as usual.