Russian President Vladimir Putin is to receive a model from the first batch of Cortege cars, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.
The Cortege project will provide Russian-made vehicles for the transportation of top Russian government officials — 3.7 billion rubles ($54 million) was allocated to the project this year, RIA Novosti reported.
“The first batch should be released around the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2018,” Manturov said.
The minister added that 200 vehicles will be produced in the first year, all of which at the Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute (NAMI) headquarters in Moscow.
Talks are ongoing with the Russian Defense Ministry regarding the creation of an armored off-road vehicle, Mantura said, RIA Novosti reported.
Four vehicle models have been developed as part of the project: a limousine, a sedan, an SUV and a minivan.
Mantura said that the limousine has been put through trials for almost a year and crash-tests for the sedan will begin in April. There are plans to increase the shipment amount to 4,000-5,000 of each model by 2020.
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