The updated Lada Vesta, the production of which started on March 3 at the AvtoVAZ site in Togliatti, will go to dealers in May 2023. Maxim Sokolov, head of the company, said this at the model launch ceremony.
As noted in the message of AvtoVAZ, the updated Lada Vesta is localized by more than 4,500 points according to the assessment system of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The engine, gearbox, body, chassis parts, seats and other interior elements are produced in Russia, the company notes.
For comparison: the maximum number of points that an automaker can score from among those who signed the special investment contract of the first version (including “AvtoVAZ”), is 7000. At the end of 2021, Vesta scored about 4000 points, and the most localized foreign cars Renault Logan and Duster – about 2200 points each.
The car is standardly equipped with two frontal airbags, anti-lock brakes, LED optics, heated windshield, mirrors and front seats. The basic equipment also includes air conditioning, parking sensors, a multimedia system, 17-inch alloy wheels and much more, AvtoVAZ explains.
Vesta is now equipped with a 1.6-liter 8-valve engine with a capacity of 90 hp. With. From May, the car will be equipped with a 16-valve engine with a return of 106 hp. with., Sokolov promised earlier. According to an AvtoVAZ representative, given the current state of the market, about 100,000 Lada Vesta could be produced this year. The price of the model has not yet been named. In total, AvtoVAZ planned to sell about 400,000 cars in 2023.
For the first time, the production of the updated Lada Vesta started at the site in Izhevsk a little over a year ago – on February 22, 2022. But the CBO in Ukraine, which began two days later, the withdrawal of Renault from AvtoVAZ shareholders and difficulties with the delivery of imported components did not allow the company to continue the production of this model.
In the spring of last year, the Volga Automobile Plant went through a series of downtime, after which in June it began producing cars of the Granta family in the so-called “simplified” version – without ABS and airbags. Later, Niva production was restarted, and airbags returned to the Granta by the end of the summer. But ABS, as well as a more powerful 106 hp 16-valve engine. With. model is still not available.
In addition, in 2022, AvtoVAZ decided to move the production of Lada Vesta from Izhevsk to the main site in Tolyatti. The company explains this with plans for a “significant increase” in the production of this model. “During 2022, special attention was also paid to the localization of the necessary components. In total, more than 200 parts and assemblies are now produced in Russia, deliveries to AvtoVAZ are also carried out by new partners from friendly countries,” the company reports.
Lada Vesta in 2021 before the crisis was the most popular car among Russians. According to the results of that year, 113,698 cars of this model were sold, according to the data of the Association of European Businesses. In 2022, Vesta sales fell by almost 4 times to 29,206 units, and the model itself dropped to 3rd place in the market top. The total sales of AvtoVAZ decreased last year by 46% to 188,645 cars.
According to Sergey Burgazliev, an independent automotive industry consultant, 100,000 Lada Vesta for this year is a very ambitious goal, especially considering the saturation of the model with electronics. He estimates the probable production volume of the novelty at about 65,000 cars. According to Burgazliev, it is very important how issues with the further localization of Vesta will be resolved.
