Fiat Linea production allocated to Russia

One of Russia's biggest car companies, Sollers, plans to start production on the Fiat Linea sedan in August/September at its plant in Naberezhnye Chelny, CEO Vadim Shvetsov has declared. The car will on sale during September.

Localization of production will reach 35%. Sollers has no plans to boost this figure since it wants to launch a new car line in 2015-'16. This is the second go by Sollers at producing the Linea sedan. Back in 2008, Sollers announced plans to build the car in the Alabuga economic area of Tartarstan but abandoned the idea.

Prices and specifications for the Linea in Russia were not released but local analysts think that the entry-level model will start at less than $16,000. The Russian Linea sedan is likely to be powered by a 1.4 litre 77bhp & 120bhp petrol engine, in addition to a 1.3 MultiJet diesel engine.

Shvetsov said that the Linea will primarily contend with the popular Ford Focus in Russia.