Vladimir Putin's favorite car is to be built at an abandoned Toyota factory in St. Petersburg. In fact, production has already started.
It is not only Citroën that has lost control of its factories in Russia. The same fate has befallen Toyota.
The Japanese, like the French, pulled out of the country when Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
And while the war still rages between the parties, the Russian state has taken control of Toyota's abandoned factory in St. Petersburg. In March last year, Toyota handed over the factory to the state-owned company NAMI.
Reuters writes that.
READ ALSO: Minister wants to lift petrol ban: "We don't have to decide"
NAMI is at the helm of the car brand Aurus, which builds Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's absolute favorite car. An Aurus Senate.
Although the Aurus Senate is the favorite of the dictator, it is no wonder. Aurus has only managed to sell 40 cars this year. One of them has the fellow dictator in North Korea, Kim Jong-Un. He got it as a gift from Putin.
Very little is known about the Aurus Senate. But it was supposed to be an idea the Russians themselves came up with back in 2013. However, it wasn't until 2021 that the first cars were built in series production.
Allegedly, there is a 4.4-liter V8 engine, which produces 598 horsepower, under the hood. There were also supposed to be plans for a 6.5-liter V12-powered version. But such one has not yet been built.
Elsewhere in Russia, Citroën has to accept that the factory it left behind is now used to produce copies of the C5 Aircross SUV. This happens with parallel imported parts from China.Read more about it here .
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here!
