According to Mr Igor Komarov president of the Russian company, Russian automaker AvtoVAZ plans to launch production of budget Renault and Nissan cars by 2013.

Mr Igor Burenkov, AvtoVAZ's corporate affairs director in an interview with the Russian Vedomosti business daily said the new models will have common engines, transmissions, suspensions and other key components.

By 2015, annual production volume of the new models is expected to reach 100,000 units. The new cars will be mainly sold in Russia and other CIS countries and are expected to be priced at less than USD 10,000.

The new models will be produced on the same platform as AvtoVAZ's new Lada Granta. However, they will be priced 25% to 30% higher than the Granta which will start at less than USD 7,000.

Russian analysts believe that the use of the AvtoVAZ platform, which is derived from the Lada Kalina, should help Renault-Nissan to start a major expansion of the Russian economy-car segment.

(Sourced from www.insideline.com)