AvtoVAZ’s newest model Lada Vesta has lost part of its localization

For the first time, the government assessed the level of localization of the Lada Vesta model, the production of which AvtoVAZ restarted in the spring. The model scored fewer points than before the crisis: AvtoVAZ was able to find many components in the Russian Federation within a year and increased the number of operations on the engine, but lost on electronics. AvtoVAZ claims that the electronic components are also Russian, but the concern has not yet received confirmation from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Formally, Vesta’s localization level has increased significantly due to R&D scores, which reflect not only an increase in investments, but also a drop in the automaker’s revenue.

Lada Vesta, whose production restarted in the spring after a year-long break, has reduced the level of localization, follows from the conclusion on the 719th resolution received by AvtoVAZ in October. Thus, the model in the sedan version with a manual transmission scored 3.2 thousand points for operations performed, 135 points less than before the start of the crisis. The station wagon version lost 115 points, gaining the same 3.2 thousand. Vesta with automatic transmission (GFK/GFL 440) lost 650–655 points, gaining 1.9 thousand points. The last two are not yet released.

Points were reset to zero for electronic components (control units for the instrument cluster, ABS and ESP body electronics), as well as for the ERA-GLONASS unit. In addition, AvtoVAZ lost 75 points for the engine control unit (ECU) (as Kommersant wrote, this was due to the increase in the cost of foreign components). Now the Ministry of Industry and Trade is discussing changes to the system for calculating points for ECUs (see “Kommersant” dated October 9).

At the same time, the automaker was able to localize some new operations and increase points for a number of those already performed (for example, piston processing is now included in the engine). New local items include engine and interior components, exterior mirrors, seals, glass, low-voltage wiring harnesses, lighting, tires, shock absorbers, ADAS, steering system, etc. However, these operations ultimately provide fewer points than lost components. .

AvtoVAZ does not yet produce a version of Vesta with an automatic transmission – a variator. Until the spring of 2022, the Vesta GFK/GFL 440 was equipped with a Jatco CVT and a 1.6-liter HR16 gasoline engine with a power of 113 hp. With. developed by the Renault-Nissan alliance. In September, the public page “Atypical AvtoVAZ” reported that production of Lada Vesta station wagons could resume in November.

The head of the automaker, Maxim Sokolov, spoke in the summer about plans to return the version with a CVT by the end of 2023, clarifying that we are talking about a “Chinese-made” CVT. The CVT version did not receive any localization points for the engine – it will likely not use any of the available engines.

Sergei Udalov from Autostat notes that the version number contains the output parameters: if they are saved with a new engine and gearbox, the version may remain the same. “Russian Car” wrote that Vesta will be equipped with a WLY variator, which is said to be similar to Jatco. AvtoVAZ did not clarify to Kommersant whether there could be talk about maintaining the version numbering, despite replacing the engine and variator.

Otherwise, the conclusion on the Vesta model concerns specifically the versions being released or planned for release. So, it does not have the other “pre-crisis” versions, but the Vesta GFL/GFK 210 appeared – with a manual transmission, a 1.6 liter engine and a power of 90 hp. s., which is being released this spring. It scores 3.2 thousand points, and the localization of this engine is slightly higher than that of the GFK/GFL 110 with a 1.6 liter engine and a power of 106 hp. With.

On paper, AvtoVAZ even increased the overall level of localization through points for R&D. So, if at the end of 2021 the concern received 635 points for R&D on Vesta, now it is 1.9 thousand points. R&D is assessed at the rate of 400 points for each percent of the company’s revenue spent on it. Kommersant’s sources note that a significant amount of points for R&D is now associated not only with real developments, but also with a decrease in revenue of automakers in 2022 due to a drop in sales and output.

As a result, the localization points obtained allow AvtoVAZ, as before, to claim 100% compensation for the recycling fee for Lada Vesta – the bar for 2023–2024 is 2.6 thousand. However, without R&D, the future Vesta with a CVT (GFK/GFL 440) would begin to lose these compensations, since it only scores 1.9 thousand points.

AvtoVAZ drew the attention of Kommersant that even now the points received “exceed the required indicators both according to Resolution 719 and according to the recycling collection rules.” The parts that are now not included in the list of localized ones, according to a company representative, are in fact Russian: “At the time of preparing the documents for the report, we did not have time to receive supporting reporting documents from the suppliers of these components. These documents are updated several times a year, and in the next iteration these transactions will already be counted and documented.”

R&D points now make up a significant portion of the overall localization rate for most models. This is most noticeable at the Moskvich automobile plant. Thus, the Moskvich 3 and Moskvich 3e models, according to the conclusion of 2022, scored 1.1 thousand points. Of this volume, only 40 points are allocated to actual localization (ERA-GLONASS block), the rest is R&D. Before the crisis, models from foreign automakers scored approximately the same amount of localization points – for example, Toyota Camry and VW Tiguan had about 1 thousand points for welding, painting and other operations. Now Moskvich, as the company reported, has begun to weld bodies (for this they give 400 points), but a new conclusion on localization has not yet appeared. Sergey Udalov notes that R&D also includes testing and compliance checks when localizing new components, and if this work is actually carried out, then R&D is directly converted into localization.

Olga Nikitina