After China and India, automakers are increasingly turning to Russia for expansion. The auto market there has grown 37% in 2011 and is expected to keep expanding over the next couple of years.
Renault managed to anticipate the Russian market boom and took a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ in February of 2008. AvtoVAZ is by far Russia’s largest automaker and internationally known as the owner of the Lada brand.
The agreement between the two has worked out so well that Renault is reportedly involved in negotiations to up its stake to over 50%. In doing so, it will bring its partner Nissan into the picture.
“The negotiations will be over in March,” said Igor Komarov, the CEO of AvtoVAZ. He added that “the biggest hurdles have been overcome.”
When the agreement is signed, 35% of AvtoVAZ’s capital will belong to Renault and 15% will go to Nissan, giving the Renault-Nissan alliance a majority stake in the Russian automaker.
The cooperation between Renault and AvtoVAZ has benefitted both automakers. The recently-launched Lada Granta was developed with some input from Renault engineers. Lada will launch a rebadged Dacia Logan station wagon in early 2012, and other badge-engineered vehicles are expected to follow suit. One of them is a 4 x 4 based on an unnamed Renault-Nissan platform that could sadly sign the death warrant of the near-eternal Lada Niva.
In exchange for the platform lending, Lada’s Togliatti factory will build Renault and Nissan models in the near future.
References
1.’L'Alliance Renault-Nissan…’ view
