Russia to promote Aurus cars in Turkmenistan - deputy prime minister

ASHGABAT. Jan 20 (Interfax) - Russia plans to promote Aurus automobiles on the market of Turkmenistan, the deputy prime minister and industry and trade minister of Tatarstan, Oleg Korobchenko said at a Russian-Turkmen business forum on Thursday.

"This morning, when we were travelling here to the forum, we were overtaken by a large motorcade of Mercedes. I'm driving and thinking, why are they driving Mercedes? Although the Aurus is far better quality, completely import-independent, made in Russia, a country that is friendly toward Turkmenistan. And it's far better. I'm also for Aurus," Korobchenko was reported as saying by Turkmen news agency Orient on Thursday.

He said he would speak with the management of the company that makes the Aurus upon returning to Tatarstan.

"We need to meet with the leadership of Turkmenistan and make an offer that cannot be refused. And this will be our Aurus automobiles, both armored and regular sedans," Korobchenko said.

"They have now begun producing new Aurus automobiles in [Tatarstan], the Komendant. A presentation for these jeeps will be held in Tatarstan on February 28," he said.

The Aurus brand was established for the project to build executive cars for government officials being carried out by Russian state company NAMI since 2012. The project was dubbed the "Unified Modular Platform," and later also became known as the Kortezh project. Small-scale serial production of Aurus vehicles began at NAMI facilities in 2016.

The firm Aurus LLC was set up in Yelabuga, Tatarstan at the end of 2017 to establish full-fledged serial production. The company began making Aurus Senat sedans, which are now used as service cars for the Russian president and members of the government, in May 2021, and at the end of 2022 it began serial production of the Aurus Komendant SUV.

It was reported that the plant in Tatarstan has capacity to produce up to 5,000 vehicles per year in future.

Previously announced plans to expand the Aurus model line also included the Arsenal minivan, a convertible based on a parade vehicle, and an electric motorcycle. A model of the latter was unveiled last summer under the name Aurus Merlon (as in the section of a battlement on a fortress wall) and shown at the Innoprom exhibition in Yekaterinburg.