Izhevsk carmaker to produce Renault, Nissan in summer

IZHEVSK, March 11 (Itar-Tass) -- The IzhAvto carmaker, which is
recovering from bankruptcy, said on Thursday it will begin producing
Renault and Nissan cars in July 2011, while in April it will launch the
production of Ladas and KIAs.
IzhAvto bankruptcy trustee Mikhail Kotov told lawmakers in Izhevsk,
the capital of the Republic of Udmurtia, the carmaker plans to produce six
thousand Renaults and 2600 Nissans this year.
IzhAvto, which will be fully owned by the biggest Russian AvtoVAZ
carmaker, will also produce seven thousand Lada cars of the seventh model,
which AvtoVAZ quit to put out, and will resume KIA production according to
agreements with its previous partner. It will use the last batch of
vehicle sets to produce close to eight thousand KIA Spectra and KIA
Sorrento.
Kotov said the enterprise will hire back reduced personnel and the
workforce will increase from 3028 to 5130 employees. The average wage at
the carmaker will exceed 16 thousand rubles (530 US dollars).
According to an agreement with AvtoVAZ, IzhAvto plans to produce four
Nissan and two Renault models which will account for 60 percent of the
total output by 2015.