The Russian Scientific Automotive Institute (NAMI) has revealed drafts of special vehicles intended for the Russian government officials. The concepts of a SUV, minivan, and limousine will be ready in 2016. The Cortege project is definitely gaining momentum. Some of the statements are really interesting — the SUVs will be assembled at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant which belongs to Sollers, and up to 40,000 vehicles are expected to roll off the production lines annually. But it has not been decided yet when and where they are going to produce the presidential limousine. The price of a full-size executive limousine will start at about 20 million RUB (approx. €406,000).
Let us remind that one of the major goals of this project is not just personalisation of government officials but also the fact that all spare parts will be produced at the Russian factories. NAMI CEO Maxim Nagaitsev gave a more precise definition in his interview to the “Rossiyskaya gazeta”: “Well of course, it’s meaningless to produce several specific units in our country as there are only three companies all over the world which produce them. Take an engine valve, for instance — it would be difficult to start its independent production making it a reasonable solution to purchase it. We start with designing components together with foreign companies, trying to reach the highest technology level possible. After that we create prototypes and pilot models with the participation of foreign companies. Then we start decreasing dependence”.
As reported by auto.vesti.ru, the price of the most affordable vehicle produced as part of the Cortege project would be around 1 million RUB (approx. €20,300).
