Renault Get Avtovaz To Halt Lada Product Launch to Focus on Quality
There has been a lot of new lately about Renault ever since they beat out Fiat and General Motors to acquire a 25% stake in Russian automaker Avtovaz.
Avtovaz were planning on a new product launch of their Lada brand, but Renault has reportedly now changed its strategy, putting new Ladas on hold. Instead, they’ll be showing the Ruskies how to build the cars they already build, but better. The plan is apparently taken out of the Volkswagen playbook, as implemented after the German group’s acquisition of Skoda, which has apparently been working pretty well for them so far.
The focus of Renault’s attention in Russia will start on the existing Kalina, applying lessons which “the West learned over 40 years” on a quicker learning curve. Once Ghosn and company feel Avtovaz has got the quality issue down pat, then it will begin to roll out new products based on Renault and Nissan platforms, currently pegged for somewhere around 2012 to 2014. Better hunker down, comrades: this could take a while.
