Renault’s withdrawal has halted production for several weeks – and now Renault’s unsupported Otwaz has to shoulder the full weight of the sanctions imposed by the West on the Russian car market. As part of the sanctions, most automakers and Western parts manufacturers in the automotive industry have stopped selling their wares in Russia. The first result that came off the production line of Lada yesterday (Friday) is the Lada Granta “Classic” – a new armature version of the Lada Granta family, which was produced even before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
As the name implies, the “Classic” is a particularly basic version, an outgrowth of Western sanctions on Lada that prevent the manufacturer from accessing electronic components and safety accessories. According to Maxim Sokolov, the new Lada CEO: “After a long hiatus, Lada is back. “Now the employment of Lada’s existing workforce is at the forefront of Otwaz’s priorities.”
In practice, the list of accessories removed from the Lada Granta “Classic” is particularly long – and it is doubtful that any of the potential customers would have purchased such a car with such poor equipment if the circumstances were not. Thus, the “Classic” does not include extras that were standard in this model last year such as an air conditioner, a passenger airbag and electronic stability control. The engine is also far from sophisticated: it is a 1.6-liter gasoline engine that produces 90 horsepower. But at least the lack of sophistication when it comes to the engine is not new: the Lada Granta produced before the war in Ukraine was also equipped with this engine (and manual transmission).
The Russian car market is collapsing