Russia's Yo-Auto, a joint venture between truck maker Yarovit and Onexim investment group, owned by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, plans to initially produce cars with conventional gasoline-powered engines, Chief Executive Officer Andrei Biryukov said on Wednesday.
"A classic engine will be installed on the cars in the first year at least. We will be testing a hybrid engine in the meantime. If the test result is positive, we'll start integrating it into the car," Biryukov said.
Yarovit and Onexim wanted to produce hybrid cars, which will run on petrol and gas and also assisted by electric motors. Prokhorov has said he wants to make a unique eco-friendly hybrid car, which would cost less than $10,000.
Biryukov said the plant, construction of which will start near the city of St Petersburg on Wednesday, would start operations in the second half of 2012.
He said that the share of locally produced car parts might amount to 90 percent in two or three years.
"We'll have to purchase car parts which are not produced in Russia, including a complex element base of the control panel, electronics, and some elements of the suspension system. Our main goal is not to worsen the quality," Biryukov said, adding the car is yet to be certified.
ST PETERSBURG, June 8 (RIA Novosti)
