AvtoVAZ to Build Logan-Based Cars

The synergies between French manufacturer Renault and Russia group AvtoVAZ has been strengthened in the past year or so, with Renault stepping in as the knight in shinning armor and saving the Russian carmaker from an untimely demise last year.

The fruits of the salvation plan agreed upon last year will soon be ripe. According to autoblog.it, AvtoVAZ will develop a new line of vehicles based on Dacia's Logan platform. Details on the project are not yet known, but it's obvious AvtoVAZ needs and aims for volume, so a price similar to that of the Logan is to be expected for the new vehicles.

Last year, Renault agreed to pay AvtoVAZ EUR240 million in technologies, production machinery, equipment and expertise in support of the production of new vehicles based on the B0 (Logan) platform.

According to inside sources, the new line of low-cost models might replace the current Lada brand and will be priced at around EUR5,000-EUR6,000. A target of some 900,000 units produced each year is what AvtoVAZ is going for. In 2009, Renault did say it would help AvtoVAZ Lada Classic replacement.

Renault announced earlier this month the purchase of a 25 percent stake +1 share in AvtoVAZ. With the purchase came the promise of increased collaboration in platform sharing, manufacturing, R&D, logistics, acquisitions and sales & marketing.

The Renault Nissan group and AvtoVAZ currently account for 30 percent of the Russian automotive market. This year, Renault plans to increase that to 40 percent and have a combined production capacity of 1.3 million units by 2012.