After the withdrawal of European and American car companies, the Soviet-era car brands were reborn.

  Recently, a factory left by the former Renault in Moscow has begun to re-produce the Soviet brand Moskvich cars that have been discontinued for 30 years. The plant, which will be renamed the Moskvich Automobile Plant, is expected to produce 600 vehicles by the end of 2022, 200 of which will be electric vehicles. The first batch is expected to roll off the assembly line in December. 

Soviet "national car"

  The Moskvich car brand was established in 1946. It was originally a replica of the German Opel Kadett, and then quickly developed into a "national" car brand in the Soviet Union. It was also the first Soviet export car brand that was truly successful in the West.

  During the heyday of Moskvich, more than half of its M-407 models were exported, and sold in the UK, Norway, Finland and France.

  In 1991, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Moskvich fell into financial difficulties. The last model, Moskvich 2141, was discontinued in 2001 and officially declared bankruptcy in 2006. Although Moskvich has been out of the field in the course of history, his place in the hearts of the people is still strong. As of 2016, more than one million Moskvitch cars are still on Russian roads.

  Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Renault's Moscow plant would be nationalized and used to restart production of the Moskvich brand in order to save thousands of jobs. He also said Moscow was working with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to localize as much as possible the production of auto parts in Russia.

  It is worth noting that, according to media reports, the Moskvich 3 model under production is similar to the JAC S4 model of China’s JAC. The design, parts and platform are all from China, and the car displayed at the press conference also has the logo of JAC. Earlier, according to the Russian "Izvestia" report, the Moscow government and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade are negotiating with a number of Chinese auto companies, including Jianghuai Automobile, FAW Group, and BYD.