The departure of French Renault from Russia could open the door to new production of Soviet pride.
The French Renault car plant has announced it will cease production at its plant on the outskirts of Moscow due to the Ukrainian war.
Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin saw here an opportunity to revive the Soviet-era Moskvitsh car brand. Sobjanin announced last week that the former Renault plant will be nationalized and start producing Moskvitsh.
The “Mosse”, also known in Finland, was sought after during the Soviet era, and was considered finer than the Lada, which was considered a national car. Moskvitsh was manufactured between 1946 and 2001, long after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The news agency Reuters has visited a meeting of Mosse enthusiasts and asked for thoughts on possible re-production of the brand. The reception was contradictory, no one seemed particularly excited.
– Moskvitshi should not be touched. It died. It was killed, he says Stanislav Tsibulski To Reuters. Tsibulski thought the new Mosse production would be a “blasphemy.” He recalls that when the factory closed, thousands were left unemployed and did not even receive their wages.
A Muscovite Sergei Ushakov would be pleased with the new production. Yet he also says Russia should focus on new cars, not the signs of the past.