OREANDA-NEWS  Volga car manufacturer will invest 60 billion rubles or more in the localization of Chinese cars in Russia under a 10-year contract with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vedomosti newspaper writes, citing sources.

The Nizhny Novgorod company Production of Passenger Cars (PLA) signed a special investment contract (SPIC) with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in February, two sources familiar with the company's business told Vedomosti. According to one of them, under a 10-year contract, PLA will invest about 60 billion rubles in the localization of the model range in Russia," the material says.

And another source says that the actual amount may be much higher, but does not name it, it is added there.

It is noted that, among other things, it is planned to develop the production of gasoline engines and automatic transmissions.
A company representative told the newspaper that Volga plans to create an original model range, develop its own engineering solutions and component base, and the SPIC assumes high obligations to localize significant components, including the engine, transmission, car control units and other components.

The interlocutor of Vedomosti did not disclose the volume of investments in the project, but pointed out that the planned volume exceeds the amount included in the SPIC.

There are currently three models in the brand's lineup. It includes the C50 sedan, which will start at 2.9 million rubles, the K50 crossover for 4.2 million rubles, and the most affordable model, the K40 crossover, priced from 2.75 million rubles.

The start of serial production of Volga cars at the former Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod was planned for the current quarter, and sales for June.