The legendary name Volga is returning to the road, but instead of Russian engineering thought, under the familiar emblem with a deer lies a well-known Chinese “donor“. The first shots of the new Volga C50 sedan blew up the automotive space, revealing that the model is literally a complete copy of the Geely Preface L. However, the only significant difference is unlikely to please future buyers – the price of the “revived“ classic is expected to be drastically higher than that of the original.
With a length of 4.8 meters and a wheelbase of 2.8 meters, the Volga C50 repeats the silhouette of the Chinese sedan, produced since 2023, to the last bend. The designers in Nizhny Novgorod did not bother with visual changes, limiting themselves only to replacing the logos. The interior has also been transferred “one-to-one” – drivers will have a narrow digital cluster in front of the steering wheel and a huge vertical multimedia screen, just like in the Geely Preface L.
The list of extras is suitably long for a business sedan, including dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, 360-degree cameras and a full safety package. Winter comfort is ensured by heated seats and steering wheel, but the technical parameters hide a certain catch. While the original Geely model features an advanced hybrid drivetrain, the Russian version will be content with only conventional 2.0-liter turbo engines with a capacity of 150 or 200 horsepower, coupled with a 7-speed automatic transmission.
The Volga C50 will be produced by assembling ready-made Chinese kits. The big question mark remains the final price. Although the official price list is still kept secret, experts predict a solid premium over the Chinese prototype, which in its homeland starts at a modest $ 19,000. Whether the prestige of the old name will be enough to justify the higher price tag for a rebranded Chinese remains to be seen.
