The Chinese state automaker BAIC and Kaliningrad's Avtotor are negotiating about the assembly of vehicles and may sign a cooperation agreement in the near future. Sources in the industry informed Vedomosti about this. However, BAIC is not the only automaker from China with which Avtotor is negotiating - Chery divisions are also named among the potential partners of the enterprise. As previously reported by "AUTOSTAT", the Kaliningrad plant "Avtotor" began the work on reconfiguring the conveyor and preparing for the launch of production of new brands of cars.
The company plans to launch the production of several such models in the first quarter of 2023. Next year, Avtotor also plans to start the production of electric vehicles and engines for them. At the new production site, the construction of 8 plants is being completed, investments in which will be more than 5.7 billion rubles (100 million Euros).
Recall that at the end of September, Avtotor completed the production of Hyundai and Kia cars from the available stocks of components. Previously, the plant in Kaliningrad also produced BMW cars, but their production was suspended in early March due to the geopolitical situation and the disruption of supply chains. According to the founder of Avtotor, Vladimir Shcherbakov, if the situation would change, then the company would be ready to resume the contract assembly with these partners.