The Russian automobile industry is once again on the verge of a "revolution", but this time it looks more like a grotesque renaming. The legendary Volga brand is preparing for a "grand comeback", which, however, will only come down to replacing the emblems of Chinese Geely cars. Another project, announced as "import substitution", is actually a frank example of rebranding, which causes more irony than pride.
According to information from Russian media, the assembly of models such as the Geely Emgrand or Monjaro crossovers, which will bear the "Volga" name, will begin on the production lines in Nizhny Novgorod. This strategy is already familiar from the project “Moskvich“, whose models are actually rebadged Chinese cars from the JAC brand. Such a practice has already become a sad standard for the Russian automotive industry, where its own developments are at a standstill, and everything that moves on wheels is either assembled from Chinese components or directly imported from China.
The idea of a “new Volga“ is nothing more than a soulless hybridization that has nothing to do with the original spirit of the brand. While the Volga of old was a symbol of strength and durability, albeit with a conservative design, today's proposal is just another “Frankenstein“ in the automotive industry. Instead of investing in their own innovations and technologies, the Russians simply stick a familiar logo on a foreign product, presenting it as a national achievement.
This is yet another proof that instead of striving for technological progress, they prefer to rely on nostalgia to sell a foreign false flag product. The next logical step would be for Lada to start using Xiaomi's chassis, and access to the car would be via a QR code from Aliexpress. After all, why develop your own models when you can just come up with new names for old Chinese cars?