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The old Nissan auto plant in Saint Petersburg, Russia, will be taken over by Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ and will start producing three new Lada models when it is reopened, according to Maxim Sokolov, the company's CEO.

Sokolov had stated, earlier in the month, that the Nissan facility in Saint Petersburg will start producing Lada vehicles in the second half of 2023.

"It will depend on how many carmakers we will bring to the Nissan plant in Saint Petersburg, but at least three models [will be produced]," Sokolov said.    

The business is now in active discussions with certain possible partners on joint manufacture at the previous Nissan-owned factory, including Chinese automakers, the CEO noted.

Sokolov also mentioned that AvtoVAZ intends to manufacture up to 10,000 Ladas at the Saint Petersburg factory alone in 2023. He said that although these models would not be premium-class automobiles, they would be more expensive than the company's standard lineup of vehicles.

It is worth noting that Nissan announced its entire withdrawal from the Russian market in October, and as a result, sold all of its assets there to a local company in late November. Early in December, the new owner of Nissan's assets handed AutoVAZ the management of the Saint Petersburg facility.

Russia nationalizes assets of French Renault

Earlier in May, the Russian government took control of French carmaker Renault's Russian assets, including the Renault Russia plant, which was transferred to the Moscow government, and shares in the Russian vehicle plant AvtoVAZ, which were transferred to a state-run research center, according to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In March, Renault announced it would suspend operations at its Moscow plant and investigate alternatives for selling its majority ownership in the Russia-based AvtoVAZ conglomerate.

According to the Ministry's Telegram announcement, "Russian assets of the Renault group are being passed to state ownership. Agreements have been signed on the transfer of Russian assets of the Renault group to Russia and the Moscow government. The agreements signed to provide for the transfer of Renault Russia shares to the city of Moscow and AvtoVAZ shares to the government represented by FSUE [federal state unitary enterprise] NAMI."

As a result, the city of Moscow would hold 100% of Renault Russia, while the Russian government, represented by NAMI, will possess 67.69% of AvtoVAZ shares. Rostec, the Russian state technology firm, will keep the remaining shares.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that he decided to adopt the plant in order to save the jobs of its employees and to resume the manufacture of vehicles under the Russian brand Moskvitch.

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