It’s looking quite fashionable these days to bring back old names, and Borgward isn’t the only blast from the past being resurrected – word is that Renault has plans to revive a Russian brand that went defunct in the early 2000s.
The brand is called Moskvitch, reportedly one of the major automotive names of the Soviet era. French publication Auto Plus, quoting AFP, says that the French carmaker is planning to resurrect the Russian nameplate in a bid to put more of its cars on Russian roads.
The report adds that Renault’s goal of capturing 40% of the Russian market share in 2016 is still a ways away from being achieved, the numbers not swelling to plan despite the takeover last year of Avtovaz, which owns Lada. Nothing like opening another card then, and the move to bring back the old name is apparently underway.
Founded in 1930, the Russian company built four million cars in the late ’80s before declining gradually with the fall of the USSR. Production stopped in the early 2000s and the company was dissolved in 2006. The car above is the Moskvitch 412, of which production ran from the late ’60s into the mid ’70s. The new Moskvitch should look more modern, yes.
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These car companies are smart. It’s better to bring back an old name, than to start anew. Why ? Because of heritage. Most of the new names are from third world countries, most notably China, and have no heritage whatsoever. That doesn’t mean these new names are bad, it’s just that they must EARN their place on the global stage. And that’s not an overnight thing, it takes decades and generations to establish a household name like Mercedes-Benz, Ford or Toyota.
Still, these old names died out for a reason… most of these old Soviet cars were horrendous. Many used ancient designs from two or three decades prior. The poor Soviets didn’t have a choice, owning a car at all was a huge deal already. But after the fall, imported cars became highly accessible to the ex-Soviet states, and they gradually killed-off or bought over many names. The most successful ex-Soviet name is of course Skoda, now part of VW.
So yes, not all of these old names were great. Be that as it may, they still live on in fond memories, mostly among the older generations.
I have to agree with your comment.However some correction need to be made.Skoda was privately owned in Czechkoslovakia before communism took over which was nationalized by the communist party.After the fall of communist bloc,It was privatised again until 2000 which VW bought over.It can be said that the only successful Soviet brand (relatively) is the Lada.With the Riva being the most popular.
Of all ex communist countries,one of the better brand was Skoda .
Thank you, BOYRACER.
Yes, you’re quite right, Skoda had already tasted success before WWII and the Soviet Union, they’re definitely very special when their history is put into context. Overall, I think many of the old Czech car names were generally ahead and more innovative than their other Eastern European counterparts. Poland’s FSO and Yugoslavia’s Yugo were nowhere near Skoda.
I guess that’s true as well, Lada is one of the few major ex-Soviet names to remain mostly independent with local R&D. However, I do believe that Renault and Nissan have been slowly buying up Lada, and one of Lada’s newer cars is also rebadged as a Datsun for the Russian market.
Lada is a joke though, incomparable to Skoda… even our own Proton is far, FAR ahead of Lada engineering-wise. If I’m not mistaken, Lada still makes brand new, old car designs from 3 or 4 decades ago.
Thanks for the insight.Russia has many brands before but after the communist fall,most of them like Moskvitch,Volga and Lada were sidelined as the population has access to better cars.Not that these cars were bad.It is just these cars were so outdated by the 90s.
Aero since you are at it,why dont you check out Czech Tatra.These cars are cool.Did you know after WW2 Tatra sued VW for copying their design on the Beetle.
Cheers