Russia's Avtotor intends to produce 1,000 electric cars under Chinese brands

KALININGRAD. June 28 (Interfax) - Kaliningrad's Avtotor intends to produce 1,000 electric vehicles in 2023, Yevgeny Petukhov, President and General Director of Avtotor Auto Holding LLC, told reporters.

"We plan for about 1,000 cars this year to be [produced] which use electric propulsion. And, accordingly, next year we will increase this volume," Petukhov said.

There will be three models, including a commercial vehicle, he said. The models produced will be of the BAIC brand, as well as another Chinese company.

Avtotor's development plans provide for the gradual development of the production of electric vehicles of all brands from China with which the company is currently working and which will come to the plant in the near future, he said.

In turn, the director of the Avtotor innovation center, Vladimir Chaplya, said that around October this year, the company will present ready-made compact electric vehicles of its own design. There will be four models in categories L5 and L7, which will be equipped with 23 kW and 45 kW engines. Production is scheduled to begin in 2024.

In October 2022, Alexander Sorokin, CEO of Avtotor Holding LLC (the parent company of the group), told Interfax that "our plans to produce our first 200 electric vehicles in 2023 are confirmed." "They will be powered by batteries made by Rosatom. They have already manufactured the first modules and handed them over to us for testing," he said.

Avtotor has been producing cars since 1997. Until 2022 inclusive, the company produced models of the Germany's BMW, assembly of which was suspended in the spring, as well as South Korean Kia and Hyundai. The release of the latter was discontinued in early October 2022.

Avtotor currently assembles cars from Chinese brands BAIC, Kaiyi and SWM.