TagAZ Launching Russia’s First Volume Sports Car
TagAZ wanted to launch the Aquila last year, but it had to postpone the project after filing for bankruptcy in April.
VIENNA – TagAZ, the struggling car assembler based in Taganrog, Russia, plans to launch sales of Russia’s first volume sports car, the Tagaz Aquila, on March 15.
The 4-door coupe, codenamed PS511, already can be pre-ordered. It is priced at RR415,000 ($13,764).
The Aquila, which is Italian for “eagle,” is powered by a 107-hp 1.6L gasoline engine manufactured under license from Mitsubishi. TagAZ also is considering a version powered by a 2.0L engine.
“The engine is sourced from China,” Denis Povalyayev, TagAZ’s head of marketing, tells WardsAuto. “A large portion of the parts for the car is sourced from South Korea.”
TagAZ originally wanted to launch the Aquila last year, but it had to postpone the project because of financial troubles. The auto maker filed for bankruptcy in April 2012, and the insolvency process is not complete as some court proceedings are continuing.
In 2011, TagAZ built more than 30,000 vehicles, up 21% from 2010. The auto maker declines to provide production figures for 2012, but its financial problems caused production runs to fall sharply and a large number of employees were fired.
In the past, TagAZ mainly was known as an assembler of Hyundai models, such as the Accent, Elantra, Sonata and Santa Fe Classic. Now the company mainly assembles Chinese cars from complete-knocked-down kits sourced from BYD, Chery and JAC.
The current program includes the Chery A5 sedan, which is rebadged as the Vortex Estina, and the Chery Tiggo cross/utility vehicle sold as the Vortex Tingo.
In cooperation with JAC, TagAZ offers the Tagaz C10 sedan, known in China as the JAC A138 Tojoy, and the JAC Rein CUV rebadged as the Tagaz C190. The Russian assembler also builds BYD F3 sedans sold under their original Chinese brand name.
The company assembles some commercial vehicles as well.
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