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Russia wants to revive retired Soviet car brand: 'It was shit from start to finish' | Abroad | DR Several major car manufacturers have left Russia since the beginning of the war. Now Moskvich cars have to fill the gap they have left. By While the Russian offensive in Ukraine has gradually gotten harder and harder to get from A to B, the same symptom seems to be flirting with the Russian private motorists. as Toyota and Volkswagen already closed their business in Russia around the outbreak of the war, and now the French car giant Renault has chosen to leave the country and to the Russian state.There is not a single model that has a good reputation. In short, it's shit from start to finish. Christian Grau, car expert According to Russia's own body of foreign investors, Renault and its strategic partner Nissan as well as Russian Avtovaz signed up in 2016 for In short: the West is leaving Russia, and it costs and cars. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin that they want to restart production of the car brand 'Moskvich'. - We can not allow thousands of workers to be out of work. Therefore, I have decided that the factory, which is the property of the city, will be the production of cars under the historic brand 'Moskvich', says the mayor. has named 60 different car types in the period 1940-2002. The ideology behind it was like just building a lot of cars with a tolerable quality. Niels Jonassen, historian Common to them all is that the Russians probably do not think back on them with especially warm feelings, says Christian Grau, who is a car expert, lecturer and engine editor at Euroman. - When you tell the Russians that they are going to drive in such shit again, then probably no one thinks that this is good news.- It's a car brand born out of a lack of resources, and it's never been popular. There is not one model that has a good reputation. In short, it was shit from start to finish, says Christian Grau. Moskvich produced his first car in 1940, but only managed to produce 1,000 cars before production was converted to military equipment in connection with the invasion of Nazi Germany in 1941. After the war, Moskvich resumed production and got its first automobile "hit" in 1947, when the Soviet Union as war damages from Germany received drawings and machines to build an Opel Kadett. It was designed in great style for Moskvich 400-420. The car was over time also sold in Denmark, but was often in such poor condition that the Danes looked towards the marginally more reliable Lada. Eventually, the sale went primarily to members of the DKP who wanted to drive a Soviet car. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Moskvich suddenly had to make do on the free market and was simultaneously privatized and christened OAO Moskvich. However, the free market did not prove to be a good place for the Soviet car giant, and the company was declared bankrupt in 2002. Today, however, there are still about 200,000 Moskvich cars in Russia. Sources: Peter Clausen, CNN, The Guardian, Niels Jonassen, Christian Grau. His strong statement is related to the curse that rested on many Soviet cars - namely poor durability. - There were extremely many mechanical problems with them. It was simply screwed up badly, he explains. The same message comes from Peter Clausen, editor in chief of MotorClassic -FDM's magazine about classic cars and vintage cars. - When the much-sold Moskvich 1500, for example, hit the streets, it was not on paper. bad car, it was just really badly made and was not modernized, he says.Niels Jonassen is a historian and has written several books about cars in a historical perspective.He recalls that car production in the old Soviet Union served other purposes than just making cars enough for. At the same time, that production apparatus was to show the West what the communist could accomplish. and bad roads, but it was not a high quality.- The basic construction did not fail anything, but the individual components were not durable. Then the ignition broke, then the brakes broke, then the lights broke, explains Niels Jonassen. Now as then, Russian car production plays a bigger role than just making cars. But Christian Grau has a hard time seeing that you can turn the revival of that ronkedor into a victory over the Russians. - Now the Russians have got a taste of freedom, and then they are sent back in such nonsense. It's hard to propagate that it's bad news, he says. He also has a hard time seeing how to start production of Moskvich's new car - but maybe you borrow production methods from the company's heyday. - I think that one starts up on some of what Renault has launched. In the old days, you often bought a western car that was on its way out, and then you made an east car on it. The old Ladas, for example, were built on Fiats, he says. If you choose that solution, you will face serious problems in getting the spare parts you need, says the car expert. - There is a general spare parts crisis in the entire car industry . On some cars, the waiting time is one and a half years. And if it's a problem for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, then I dare not think about what it will be for Moskvich in, says Christian Grau. Peter Clausen from MotorClassic points out that it typically takes three to five years to develop a new type car. If the Russian side develops a new car, then the war in Ukraine and its political repercussions will actually be able to help the sale, it sounds. right now.- But personally I do not believe much that they get made something I would call a good car, says Peter Clausen.