Kamaz to set up separate car division - CEO

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 1 (Interfax) - Kamaz plans to establish a car division that will not be consolidated with the group's core business, the Russian truck maker's CEO, Sergei Kogogin said.

"Kamaz has plans to establish a car division. But, tentatively speaking, it is unlikely to be consolidated [with the core business]. We're establishing a new type of business," Kogogin told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Industrialist forum.

If the car business is created, it will not affect Kamaz's financial results, he added. The company did not provide details about the plans Kogogin announced.

Kamaz specializes in building 14 to 40 tonne trucks and does not make cars. However, the company is involved in two car projects that are being discussed.

Under an agreement with Moscow, Kamaz is acting as a technology partner of Moskvich, the former Renault Russia plant, which in late November launched serial SKD assembly of cars under the Moskvich brand. There are two Moskvich models, which according to their vehicle type approvals are based on the cars of China's JAC.

Kamaz also previously announced its involvement in an electric car project. The prototype Kama-1, developed by the company with the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, was unveiled back in late 2020. The company JSC Kama, headed by former Kamaz prospective projects development manager Igor Povarazdnyuk, was registered for the project in August 2021. The investors in the electric vehicle startup are Kogogin and businessman Ruben Vardanyan.

Business daily Vedomosti reported in early February that the company said in its commercial presentation that it planned to be producing up to 450,000 EVs per year by 2030. It was expected that some of these vehicles might be built in Hungary, with which the startup signed a letter of intent.

In the fall of 2022 there were media reports that the EV being developed by Kama will be called Atom and functional prototypes will be presented in the second half of 2023.