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RusAutoNews.- As announced by the company press office, the new Kamaz Compass light trucks will be released in the Russian market soon, in January 2022.
Compass is an entirely new model line, which significantly differs from the K3, K4 and K5 generations of trucks. As told by Sergei Nazarenko, the chief designer for innovative vehicles at Kamaz, a component base from the Chinese partner JAC is used in the vehicles.
“We have decided to attract a partner to the project, in order to shorten the development and production launch periods of the vehicles, as well as reducing the risks, primarily on the investment side” – as explained by Sergei Nazarenko. “In Kamaz Compass, there are elements and units that are developed by us of course, however, it’s a borrowed platform in general. We have a 5-6 years time frame ahead of us to achieve a high-level localisation in the main components and details, in order to be able to brand the vehicles as Kamaz products”. On the other hand, the automobile has already been certified under the brand name of Kamaz and will be sold through the distribution and service centres of the company.
The Kamaz Compass project has been launched with two models: the 9.5 tonnes gross weight Compass-9 and the 11.99 tonnes gross weight Compass-12. The delivery class vehicles are designed to operate both in cities and suburbs and for occasional intercity transportation. Versions of these vehicles can also be used for various special settings.
“We have plans to introduce more compact and lighter 5.5 tonnes gross weight Compass-5 and 6 tonnes Compass-6 models to the market, during the second half of 2022. These models seem to be as promising as the 9 and 12 series. The 3-tonnes Kamaz Compass-3 will be the lightest model in the new family. The development process of the vehicle has already started and a prototype will come out next year. The mass production, on the other hand, is planned for 2023 at the earliest” – Nazarenko said. “An eight-post production conveyor has already been organised in our delivery building, where 2 or 3 cars are assembled everyday, however, the pace will increase depending on sales”.
Tens of vehicles have already been assembled, some of which have been transferred to special equipment manufacturers for the construction of installations.
The production of the automobiles will start in the Moscow region, since it is the most capacious, convenient for feedback reception and spare parts, service and support provision, in comparison with other areas. According to Nazerenko, the clients are ready to place orders, waiting for the release of the first batch.
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