Russia’s Hybrid Yo-Mobile’s Output Target Halved

MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Yo-Auto carmaker is cutting the production target of its gas-electric hybrid, the Yo-Mobile, from 90,000 to only 40,000 a year, its general director said Thursday.

Full-scale production of the vehicle, which has a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), will begin in 2015, months later than previously announced, director Andrei Ginzburg said, adding that the original plan was reviewed for cost optimization.

The company, part of billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group, has repeatedly postponed the launch of the vehicle, which has a cruising range of 250 miles (400 km) and an estimated fuel-economy rating of 67 miles per gallon (30 km per liter).

The Yo-Mobile is being marketed as an environmentally friendly, energy-saving car for inner-city driving.

General director Ginzburg added on Thursday that “if the market demands it, we will increase the manufacturing capacity.”

Russian media has reported that the car will use a Fiat engine, but Yo-Auto has declined to confirm such information.