I took a ride on the new Moskvich 3. What I liked, but what’s terrible

Last year, production of the Moskvich 3 SUV began in Russia. This is perhaps the first truly interesting Russian car, albeit with Chinese roots.

It is already on sale in Russia, and soon Yandex Taxi will receive and distribute its cars. In addition, this year Moskvich introduced the production of another SUV and sedan.

Now I’ll tell you how Moskvich was made in Russia, which versions are rare and what is good and bad about it.

How the new Moskvich plant appeared

You probably already know her. I’ll just go over the key events.

Until 2010, the Moskvich plant, founded in 1930, officially operated in Moscow. Formally, because by 2010 the Moskvich OJSC enterprise was bankrupt, and since 2005 Renault cars have been produced at the plant.

Renault left Russia in 2022. All assets of the plant became the property of Moscow.

In May, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that by the end of the year, the plant would start producing cars under the Moskvich brand. Thus, Sobyanin immediately announced the electric car, but did not reveal any more details.

How Moskvich is made in Russia

On November 23, 2022, the production of the Moskvich 3 car began in Russia. In fact, this is a Chinese crossover JAC JS4, which is also sold under the Sehol X4 brand.

In Russia, production is a SKD assembly (SKD). The company does not disclose the SKD index.

There are four categories of SKD (0-4) in total. The higher the number, the more complex the assembly technology and the smaller the units supplied.

SKD assumes that the manufacturer supplies the machines in disassembled form, most often for ready-to-assemble components, and they are already assembled at preferential plants.

This is not a new practice and has been involved with other automakers for a long time. For example, BMW cars and many other foreign cars were assembled in this way in Russia in this way.

In addition, many automakers license their cars to other brands. As a result, spots appear on the market on cars, but under the spots.

South Korea is a good example here. All Renault vehicles in Korea are sold under the Samsung brand. The situation is very similar to Moskvich and JAC: the cars are the same, but the logos and names are different.

What is good and bad in Moskvich 3

Moskvich 3 is a compact city SUV that just needs to get you from point A to point B.

In Russia, only two modifications are now available:

▪️ With a 150 hp turbocharged engine, CVT or mechanics
▪️ With 193 hp electric motor and a power reserve of 410 km

The ICE version is sold only in the basic configuration, which includes:

▪️ Cruise control
▪️ Single zone climate control
▪️ Wireless charging
▪️ 10.25 inch multimedia
▪️ CarPlay and Android Auto
▪️ Rear view camera
▪️ Auto hold
▪️ Start/Stop button
▪️ ABS
▪️ ESP
▪️ Keyless entry
▪️ Rear parking sensors

Moskvich’s interior objectively looks better than anything AvtoVAZ did for your history. But it also has its downsides.

I did not like the landing and the inability to adjust the steering wheel for reach. When I adjusted the chair for myself (my height is 185 cm), then my left elbow no longer fit on the door armrest, because it is very short. The center armrest is also small, only enough for one person.

There is not much space in the back, just like in the Hyundai Creta. The dimensions of the machines, by the way, are practically occupied. Due to its small size, sitting in the back row is inconvenient due to the small opening for the legs. But the same can be said about other compact SUVs.

Heated seats from the factory in Moskvich 3 no. But some dealers are dangerous in and of themselves.

Trunk volume of 520 liters, I think a lot is enough. Plastic inserts take up a lot of space. it is desirable that they have built-in drawers, but alas. Under the breakdown lies a dokatka and there is no sound insulation.

For this class of car soundproofing is normal. It will be quite comfortable to move around the city, but at high speeds it will be very noisy.

The block with touch buttons looks modern and impressive, but very inconvenient. Random application must be precise and experienced. Quickly increase the airflow, for example, will not work. To do this, press the button with a short delay.

As for multimedia, it is very simple. Through it, you can configure various functions of the car, some, see tire pressure and connect your phone, for example, for CarPlay.

The quality of the translation image is to be desired. Some functions for some reason appear very strange. For example, the frequency of excitation by notes. This is the simplest thing that came to mind. Sometimes there are wrong endings. But this problem can be solved with firmware updates.

Keyless entry is only on the driver’s door.

Music is none. Six speakers play very flat. Bass and highs are not enough, the equalizer will not help to solve this problem.

Diode DRLs are installed in front, but halogen dipped beam. At the same time, in the review, all optics are diode.

The presence of an electric sunroof pleased.

The first thing you pay attention to while driving is that you steering wheel is very light. A 150-horsepower turbo engine and a CVT are a classic combination for many Chinese cars. The variator works smoothly, but at the same time it is not fast. The car thinks for a long time when the gas pedal is sharply pressed to the floor.

With all the pluses and minuses of Moskvich, he does not cause me directly sharp negative emotions, but positive ones too. It’s just an ordinary car that doesn’t try to explain anything.

I would not have bought such a car for many rich people. But if a person needs an inexpensive (according to current realities) and a new car with a guarantee, then why not.

What Muscovites to expect this year

In 2023, Moskvich plans to release another SUV and a Moskvich 6 sedan. The latter will go on sale in the second half of this year. Prices and specifications of the company are not disclosed.

Moskvich 6 is a C-class sedan with a liftback body, which covers Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Jetta in size.

In China, this vehicle is manufactured by JAC and sells Sehol A5 Plus macros. The car is equipped with a 1.5-liter turbo engine with 184 hp. and robotic automatic transmission.

The cabin has a large touch screen and a digital instrument panel.

Price spread in China for this large model. The basic version costs 99 thousand yuan or 1.14 million rubles. The most expensive modification will cost 192 yuan or 2.2 million. Sometimes in Russia the basic version will be sold first, as is the case with Moskvich 3.