YEKATERINBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2021) French carmaker Renault is exploring the possibility of producing its Logan car model powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) in Russia, the company's executive for the Russian and CIS market, Nicolas Maure, said on Wednesday.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance owns the Russia-based AvtoVAZ plant, which produces the gas-powered LADA Vesta model. Maure is the President and CEO of AvtoVAZ.
"There is a discussion in Renault to produce a Logan CNG. We believe in CNG," Maure told journalists. "We need to develop the infrastructure and increase the number of gas stations by at least three times. Now there are about 500-600 gas stations in Russia. We need at least 1,500- 2,000 gas stations in Russia to develop sales."
In addition, the production of Lada Largus CNG may be resumed at AvtoVAZ, Maure noted. The company is currently working on the technical aspects of the issue.
"We also produced Largus. But there was a peculiarity with this � a CNG tank occupied about 40% of the trunk. Now we are looking for an opportunity to position the gas tank more correctly, which would allow increasing the volume of the trunk," the executive added.
AvtoVAZ dominates the Russian car market with roughly 20% share and has a presence in more than 20 other countries. The company manufactures full-cycle vehicles and components for two brands - Lada and Renault. The Lada brand includes five models � Vesta, Xray, Largus, Granta, and Niva.
