Izhevsk carmaker to fulfill commitments to KIA

IZHEVSK, April 15 (Itar-Tass) -- The IzhAvto carmaker, which is
recovering from bankruptcy, said on Thursday it will fulfill its
commitments to previous partner from South Korea and will produce Kia
Spectra and KIA Sorrento vehicles in summer. After that the equipment will
be adjusted to produce Renault-Nissan cars.
Earlier the carmaker said it will launch the production of KIAs in
April, but Igor Kulgan, CEO of the United Automobile Group which governs
IzhAvto, told Tass on Friday 2480 vehicle sets to assemble Spectra and
Sorrento are expected to arrive in Izhevsk from South Korea in late April.
The production will begin in May and will end in August, he said.
IzhAvto began to produce KIA cars in 2005 and made over 123 thousand
vehicles in partnership with the South Korean company.
Last month IzhAvto bankruptcy trustee Mikhail Kotov said 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.
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.