The Aurus plant in the Yelabuga SEZ "Alabuga" may be closed, according to the Telegram channel "Russkiy Avtomobil" citing industry sources. The reason is high production costs and lack of demand.
And there is almost no demand for Aurus cars; there can be no talk of the previously announced five thousand cars per year.
According to the channel's sources, the enterprise will most likely operate until 2026, but the liquidation of the Aurus office in Khimki will begin in September, and employees will be offered relocation to St. Petersburg. Some employees from Yelabuga are also offered to relocate to Shushary, to the former Toyota plant, where there is currently a severe shortage of personnel, but so far few have agreed, the channel claims. Even a rotational work method is offered for vacancies in St. Petersburg.
NAMI will continue to assemble Aurus cars. The site will be expanded to at least 250 cars per year. This volume, according to experts, is sufficient to cover market needs, taking into account orders from government agencies and the Special Purpose Garage (GON).
It is noted that the plant in Yelabuga was allegedly unprofitable from the start, the production cost turned out to be too high, and the project was never profitable. As the Telegram channel claims, NAMI understood this but inflated plans to 5,000 cars per year to attract component suppliers – no supplier would agree to a volume of 300 units annually. However, plans to produce thousands of cars proved unattainable.