Infiniti Range to Be Built in Russia

The expansion and the opportunities offered by the Russian automotive industry is beginning to stir about the same passions as China has done a few years back. We've already seen a flood of announcements regarding partnerships between foreign auto makers and local companies, but that seems to have been only a scratch on the surface of a much bigger iceberg.

Among the last such undertakings comes from both Japan and France, where Nissan and its partner Renault are beginning to eye a much bigger involvement in the Russian market than currently exists. Apparently, Renault, a traditional presence on the Russian market, is trying to pull into the country a much bigger Nissan manufacturing capability.

According to Inside Line, Nissan might bring much of the production of the Infiniti luxury brand into Russia. The two partners will not limit themselves there, as Renault has some $2.7 billion to spend in the coming years on the Russian projects.

By the end of the decade, the French-Japanese partnership plans to introduce on the Russia market no less than 30 different models, including the aforementioned Infiniti range, the Qashqai, the Nissan Pathfinder, Renault Latitude, Renault Koleos and a new midsize Renault sedan.

The biggest recipient of the Renault-Nissan attention and money in Russia will be Renault's traditional partner, AvtoVAZ, who is already getting ready to produce 141,000 cars for Renault and 67,000 for Nissan. By 2020, those numbers are expected to grow to 445,000 and 406,000, respectively.

The Russian market, at the same time, is expected to grow at an 8 percent annual rate until 2020.