Sergei Sobyanin: Moskvich plant signed one of the world’s largest contracts to supply electric vehicles for taxis and carsharing

The Moskvich automotive plant will supply 2,000 Moskvich-3 e electric vehicles for Yandex.Taxi partner taxi companies. The company has signed a corresponding agreement with Flot LLC. In February, the companies reached a similar agreement regarding Moskvich-3 crossovers. 3,000 cars will be used in taxis and carsharing. The first 50 vehicles have already been added to the Yandex.Taxi fleet.

“It is important that the Moskvich plant is already participating in the development of urban passenger transport. The enterprise has signed contracts with Yandex.Taxi to supply 5,000 vehicles, of which 2,000 are electric ones. This is one of the largest contracts to supply vehicles for taxis and carsharing in the world. It improves the urban ecology and sets a good example to other companies. I hope that Moscow residents and visitors will take advantage of this car,” said Sergei Sobyanin during his visit to the Moskvich plant.

According to Anton Sapozhkov, Director General of the Flot company, in recent years, it has become more difficult for taxi companies to provide the car fleet. Yandex established a new division, Yandex.Flot, to solve this problem. It is aimed at providing a vehicle fleet for taxis and carsharing.

“Today, we are signing an agreement to provide 2,000 vehicles for electric taxis and carsharing. Before that, in February, we had already signed an agreement to purchase 3,000 Internal combustion engine vehicles, which will ensure the car operation in Moscow for our taxi fleets,” Anton Sapozhkov emphasized.

As part of the visit to the plant, Moskvich-6, a beautiful dynamic sedan, has been presented. The production and sale are scheduled for the second half of this year.

Sales of Moskvich cars began on March 3, 2023 in 23 Russian cities (53 sales centers are open), where the company’s dealers are available. You can buy a car in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Kazan, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saratov, Stavropol, Tyumen, Ufa and Chelyabinsk. Dealerships are about to open in Sochi and Simferopol.

Revival of the Moskvich automotive plant

In March 2022, Renault (France) announced that they were going to close down their plant in Moscow and leave the Russian market. The former owner did not leave any technologies, design documents or parts that could be used to keep production running. They did, however, leave the 2021 payroll debt: RUB 691 million that the Moscow Government paid out as soon as they took ownership of the plant.

For many years before that, the Renault Group did everything they could to cut out Russian automotive components suppliers and switch production to foreign-made parts. That is why production at Moskvich had to be restarted virtually from scratch.

It is not possible to start making entirely Russian cars right off the bat today: an own platform, widely used and modern, needs to be developed first, and Russian production of key automotive parts needs to be launched.

In order to resume work as soon as possible, the Moscow Government signed a Technology Partnership Agreement with KAMAZ PTC, the long term, trusted partner in urban transport projects and the largest automotive company in Russia. They have lots of experience in crisis management and DKD assembly with subsequent increasing localization.

KAMAZ PTC CEO Sergei Kogogin emphasizes that the company is preparing to release new car models, including upmarket ones. According to him, the plant is making serious plans for the localization, which is scheduled for this year.

“We expect the car features to be appreciated by taxi drivers. We will see how convenient it is for passengers, how efficient it is to use electric transport. As an engineer, I believe that this is the right decision, which will definitely improve the environmental conditions of our city and ensure much greater convenience for passengers and drivers,” said Sergei Kogogin.

Thanks to their top-class engineering tradition established in the recent years, KAMAZ PTC is now among the Russian leaders in developing and producing commercial and electric-powered vehicles and innovation drones, which also contribute to the rebirth of Moskvich. The process will take place in three stages over six years.

The first stage (November-December 2022) will involve the plant starting DKD assembly of Moskvich-3 cars, gradually increasing their localization. The development of in-house broad-purpose electric car platform and an effort to set up key components production will take place in parallel.

During the second stage (2023), CKD assembly will start along DKD, and the localization rate will rise thanks to the increasing number of Russian suppliers (body parts, steering power components, braking systems).

At the third stage, Moskvich will launch production of an own-designed electric car with key components made in Russia (batteries, engines and reduction units), using a broad-purpose platform.

At the moment, 7,000 cars have rolled off the production line. The production of 50,000 cars, including 10,000 electric cars, is scheduled for 2023. In 2024, the plant expects to double the production making at least 100,000 cars, including 20,000 electric ones. Half of them will be produced using DKD technology, the other half will be made using CKD technology.

Moskvich-3 urban crossover and Moskvich-3 e electric car

Moskvich-3, the firstborn of the revived automotive plant, is a crossover model popular in big cities: relatively large but compact, comfortable and cost-efficient, suitable for everyday driving alone or with family.

In line with the modern international classification, the reborn Moskvich brand will include models with numerical codes indicating the car’s size and its position in the family. Depending on car modification, codes may include letters. For example, the letter “e” in a code means an electric car.

As for Moskvich-3’s appearance, it has geometric body contours with modern LED optics and a recognizable running and parking lights shape. The compact crossover is 441 cm long, 180 cm wide and 166 cm tall. It has a 262 cm wheelbase and a large passenger compartment with comfortable, ergonomic seats. The model comes with a gas turbine motor (1.5 liters, 150 HPs, 210 Nm) paired with automated CVT or six-gear manual transmission.

Also on board are a digital dash panel with 10.25” display and a multimedia system with a similar screen that can be connected to smartphones using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, a surround view camera system and an electric sunroof.

The Moskvich-3 e electric car is a modern, environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient crossover with an electric motor (peak power: 193 HPs) and a 65.7 kilowatt-hour battery that provides a range of up to 410 kilometers. Both slow and fast charging of the electric vehicle are available for drivers. Moskvich-3 e has a panoramic roof and a 4-way power seat.

The new Moskvich-3 urban crossover and the Moskvich-3 e electric car went on sale in Moscow and the Central Federal District in December 2022.

Moskvich-6 sedan

Moskvich-6, the second model of the revived automobile plant, is a beautiful dynamic sedan. It is a modern C-class car featuring thoughtful ergonomics and a high level of comfort, wide multimedia options and a spacious trunk.

Moskvich-6 is designed for daily travel around the city. The car is targeted specifically at people who appreciate expressive design, comfort and modern options. The sedan is 478 cm long, 182 cm wide and 149.2 cm tall. It has a 277 cm wheelbase and a large passenger compartment with comfortable, ergonomic seats.

Drivers and passengers will like a spacious trunk, a panoramic roof, atmospheric interior lighting and an eye-catching body design. Also on board are a digital dash panel with a 10.4” display and power-folding side mirrors, a 360° camera and a power tailgate.

The model will go on sale in the second half of 2023.