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Lada Xray at a Moscow auto show (2018): Would you have thought that a Lada looks like this?
Photo: Sefa Karacan/Getty Images
The Russian carmaker Lada has announced that it will slowly start up production of many models again after production was interrupted for several months due to the sanctions.
But no longer in the production program: the Lada Xray, a compact SUV.
The reason for the end of the Xray is "the very high proportion of imported components," the state news agency Ria Novosti quoted a Lada representative as saying.
The end of the Xray is quite a symbolic step: the car was one of the first drafts by designer Steve Mattin, who had designed vehicles for Mercedes and Volvo for a long time.
His mission: pimp the outdated image of the Lada group, which has been shaken by many crises, and give the vehicles a modern, appealing design language (you can find an interview with Steve Mattin here).
No suppliers for 1500 components
The sanctions have hit Russia's auto industry hard.
Many western car manufacturers have stopped production in their factories.
The long-standing Lada partner Renault-Nissan has withdrawn from the cooperation.
An acute shortage of components and preliminary products also led to mass shutdowns of factories by Russian manufacturers in the spring.
Meanwhile, Avtovas has resumed vehicle production.
However, the Ladas that are now rolling off the assembly line only look like the cars that were produced before the attack on Ukraine began: Some have no airbags, and the company does not want to install the ABS brake assist system again until 2023, if by then until alternative suppliers are found.
According to the group, Lada has not yet found any alternative suppliers for a total of 1,500 of 4,500 components.
At the same time, new car prices have risen: in the spring, the Lada Vesta model cost around one million rubles, but up to three million rubles (50,000 euros) are now being called up.
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