As it turned out, not a single new Russian-assembled BMW car, which was actively written about in the media this week, has yet left the factory. Sales have not yet started, so prices for them have not been confirmed, said Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Behind the Wheel."
Everyone really hyped it up: the media, which was full of громкими headlines, "Autorevizorro," which did not show a single car assembled in Kaliningrad, but very convincingly tried to talk about it using old photographs, and even Russian BMW dealers, who also said something there.
In 2022, Kadakov recalled, when former partners stopped cooperating with Avtotor, a large number of cars remained at the factory that were not fully assembled. The territory was filled with Kia and Hyundai cars that had minor defects. These cars were gradually completed and sent for sale. Kadakov noted that he himself photographed thousands of such cars.
The situation with BMW cars is similar, but there are also differences. Firstly, the number of car kits was smaller. Secondly, these were not partially assembled cars, but specifically car kits.
By 2022, a large building was built on the territory of the Avtotor plant, intended for the assembly of BMW cars. Some of the car kits were already in this building, and others were stored in other places. All this took up a lot of space. Therefore, it was decided to assemble these cars at the factory itself - this way they could be stored more compactly.
So far, not a single assembled BMW has left the factory territory, so there are no live photos either. Not to mention videos. Accordingly, sales have not started - and it is unknown when they will begin. And that means there are no prices either.
According to Kadakov, there was a lot of hype on this topic.
Earlier, BMW Group officially stated that it is not responsible for cars assembled at the Avtotor plant after the company's departure from Russia. The company also suggested that such cars may not meet the strict quality and safety standards set by BMW. This may create risks for drivers, passengers and other road users.
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