22 Apr 2022 10:51

Kamaz in talks with MAZ on possible joint production of driverless trucks

KAZAN. April 22 (Interfax) - Russian truck maker Kamaz and Belarus's Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) intend to join forces to build trucks with driverless systems, Kamaz said.

"The engineering leaders of the two countries intend to integrate efforts in the field of manufacturing automobiles using driverless and smart systems and other areas," the company said in a press release following a meeting at MAZ on prospects for cooperation between the two automakers.

Kamaz is developing driverless trucks of various classes with capacity ranging from 30 tonnes to 120 tonnes, the chief designer of innovative automobiles at the company's research center, Sergei Nazarenko said at the Innoprom video conference in September 2020.

In the middle of February 2022 it was reported, citing materials from Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry, that Kamaz, Volvo Trucks and Evocargo, which previously tested its driverless truck on the Central Ring Road, had plans to start producing highly automated trucks in Russia in 2023. However, at the end of February Volvo Group announced the suspension of operations in Russia due to the military operation in Ukraine.