One of the Soviet Union’s best known car brands could be about to make a comeback, after car company Renault announced plans to transfer 100% of Renault Russia to the city of Moscow.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Renault’s car factory in the city would be nationalised and repurposed to produce Moskvich cars, which were last produced over 20 years ago.
The Moskvich, which means Muscovite, was the first Soviet-produced car made for individual use, rolling off the production line in 1946.
It was designed to be sturdy and affordable, made from parts produced in the Soviet Union and communist East Germany.
Sobyanin said the move would “open a new page in the history of the Moskvich”, adding that the plant would produce conventional cars to begin with, but could make electric cars in the future.
