Source: Gasgoo
Russia’s acting Deputy Prime minister Denis Manturov said the production of the Aurus limousine will begin this year at a former Toyota plant in St. Petersburg.
The Aurus Sedan, modeled after the ZIL limousine from the Soviet era, is the official car of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Aurus limousine was used by Putin to attend his inauguration at the Kremlin on May 7. In February, Putin also presented an Aurus to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Image source: Aurus
Russian media quoted Manturov as saying that the production at the St. Petersburg plant is expected to start by the end of 2024, while the former Toyota plant has long been handed over to Aurus.
In March last year, Toyota transferred the plant to NAMI, a Russian state-owned company that owns a majority stake in the Aurus brand. Aurus Motors began producing cars in 2021 in the Tatarstan region of Russia, about 1,000 kilometers from Moscow.
After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, a number of global automakers announced their withdrawal from the Russian market, and Russia began to find ways to use these idle car plants.
According to Russian analyst agency Autostat, 40 Aurus-branded cars have been sold in Russia so far this year.
