Russia’s Volga Is Back, Built By Geely In A Former VW Plant

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ImpossibleAd2734@reddit

There's an alleged of a lack of parts for such projects . The rumor is it's because the Chinese switch generations faster than us, Russians, badge engineer.

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Funny enough I actually thought lower Thor's hammer lights as DRLs would be a good evolution of the Volvo design, leaving headlights in the more traditional spot (at least on sedans/wagons where they wouldn't be so high up). Seems like Geely did too. Guess we won't be seeing it on Volvos though.

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Dear_Watson@reddit

I drive a SPA (Geely) S60 and the headlights are phenomenal even with the Thors Hammer DRL down the center, better than the P3 S60s headlights which are already very good.

The DRLs look fantastic too IMO, super unique and look really good when they’re on.

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Trades46@reddit

Considering Geely is involved and who the parent owner of Volvo is...

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Yoinkysplonky@reddit

That's partially because it is a cousin of Volvo, considering Geely owns both Volvo and the newly ressurrected Volga.

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Ok-Acadia-3826@reddit

Cool

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costafilh0@reddit

I wonder. How much market there is for more of the same?

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arcticrobot@reddit

Most famous Soviet era brand was Lada, not Volga. Volga was just for apparatchiks.

Lada produced some nice designs like offroader Niva (lets forget about quality issues for a second). Or a Lada 2105, which was a base for highly popular in Eastern block rally racer Lada VFTS.

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icecream_specialist@reddit

The Volga 21 is the most iconic Russian car to Russians. It was featured in the Sochi Olympic opening ceremony.

Lada was by far more common but to say most famous only applies to outside the USSR imo

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arcticrobot@reddit

I mean, I grew up in USSR and my granddad owned Volga GAZ-24. Volga was always considered higher class and desirable car, available only to people with certain positions in society. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" type of thing.

There was also Chaika, that thing was unobtainium for all except high govt officials. And then there was ceremonial ZIL limousine.

But I still consider Lada a most iconic Soviet brand.

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xolov@reddit

I really don't understand who you are arguing with here. Lada has always been around making cars so therefore Volga making a comeback is seen as a big deal by USSR nostalgics. Everyone who was around in USSR back then or knows anything about soviet motoring knows about both Lada and Volga.

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icecream_specialist@reddit

Same. There's still a gaz 21 and gaz 24 in the family. The gaz 24 grandpa had a little status to his name the gaz 21 was a truck driver.

I agree with all your points except how we interpret iconic. You're saying iconic because it's what most people lucky enough to get a car had and they were more prevalent, which certainly is not wrong. I'm saying specifically gaz 21 was more iconic because of what it represented as a symbol.

The chaikas were pretty sweet never been close enough to touch one but I've seen them a few times.

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arcticrobot@reddit

I will agree with you. GAZ 21 was definitely more iconic car.

I still consider Lada more iconic Brand. Producing both Fiat based models of early days, Niva and also more recent models like 2108/2109, which are pretty iconic cars of that era on that territory.

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icecream_specialist@reddit

I like your car vs brand distinction. Let's go with that!

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blazbluecore@reddit

My grand fathers Lada drove for 50 plus years..insane car..

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leebe_friik@reddit

Volga Gaz-24 was also the standard official taxi cab, so there were loads of them. It's the V8 version that was limited to KGB use.

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Quaiche@reddit

If you didn’t know, you can buy a 2026 Lada Niva.

Yep, I sometimes see it in my city.

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Perunakeisari_69@reddit

Oh it has actually been modernized now. Thats a surprise. I swear there was pretty much the 70s niva built until like 2015 or something

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Remarkable_Spirit_68@reddit

The model has split into Niva Travel that's being regularly modernised, and Niva Legend that's staying the same except for some modern necessities like air conditioning and power windows

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Capri280@reddit

Is the Niva travel the same as the old Niva aka Niva Legend underneath, but with a more modern looking body, or is it completely different, sharing only the name?

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Remarkable_Spirit_68@reddit

The 4wd transfer case is the same, other systems have seen some improvements

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arcticrobot@reddit

Still is sold. Rebranded as Lada Niva Legend. Same awesome 70-s chassis)

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leebe_friik@reddit

Geely Monjaro is quite a popular car in Russia, being practical, relatively fast and also decent to drive. It's benchmark that other Chinese cars are often compared against. It's no surprise they would want to rebadge it and try to assemble it in Russia, since it comes with a 235 hp 2.0 turbo engine from Volvo, and the current import rules (lobbied by AvtoVaz that produce Lada) severely tax imports that have over 150 hp.

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TropicalAviator@reddit

Same as they did with Moskvich, anything to make the general population think the country wasn’t sold to China

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ShadyDrunks@reddit

lol nobody thinks it wasn't, most car imports are Chinese, and now there's a large Chinese immigrant population

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V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit

That sounds like the relationship between Russia and China not that really good.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

Eh, rebadges are a totally normal thing companies just do. I wouldn't assign a deception motive to it.

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MGPS@reddit

Yea but we’re talking about Russia here.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

Regular business strategies don't become deceptive just by virtue of taking place in Russia. You need to prove the specific case.

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MGPS@reddit

Haha yea I bet it’s even worse that you imagine. This whole thing is probably a farce. They have zero hopes of actually making any cars and this is all just another propaganda point to distract from the fact that Russia is broke and also losing a war to Ukraine.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

There's no indication and no reason to believe this is a propaganda announcement. It's probable Geely is pursuing a knock-down approach with these and is importing all the core powertrain bits (engines, etc.) but no indication the effort doesn't exist at all. Rebadges are, once again, a totally normal thing companies do — and something Geely in particular does quite a bit.

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MGPS@reddit

I guess so! I wonder which project will be completed first? This Volga launch or Russia’s new nuclear moon base?!

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

Putting together a CKD line isn't especially difficult. As I said, it's something Geely has done quite a bit. Geely has done various forms of knock-down kit in South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia, for instance. Generally, it sounds like you have some catch-up reading to do on the state of the Russian market — the Chinese OEMs rushing in where the other global automakers rushed out isn't a new story there.

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zarif2003@reddit

I applaud you for not stooping to his level no matter the sarcastic remarks.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

Gotta have patience with people like that. We're on a website that bans Russian domain names and a subreddit that filters the word "Chinese" in posts. They don't know that it's a reality bubble and that they are victims.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

Chery, definitely. I believe GWM too.

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Recoil42@reddit (OP)

The first model is the K50. It was teased in February and is an SUV based on the Geely Monjaro. This is not simply a case of shared underpinnings paired with a unique design. Instead, it looks largely identical to the Monjaro, with the same front fascia, chrome accents, and headlights. The only visible change is a slightly revised grille carrying Volga badging.

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Then there’s the Volga C50, a traditional sedan. It’s built around the Geely Preface and appears to have undergone very few changes from the Chinese model. Like the K50, the C50 gets a new grille and front badge, but everything else seems to carry over largely unchanged from the Geely. That’s not necessarily a drawback, as the Preface has a clean design, even if it leans slightly bland, bringing to mind the Passat and, from some angles, the American Honda Accord.