Putin’s Favorite Rolls-Royce Russian Rival Aurus Faces Production Shutdown

Russia’s flagship luxury car brand Aurus, created to provide domestically produced vehicles for leader Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, may significantly scale back production as weak demand and high manufacturing costs continue to undermine the project.

According to Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, Russia’s Aurus assembly plant in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, is expected to shut down by the end of 2026, while the company’s office near Moscow is reportedly set to begin liquidation procedures in September. Production may be consolidated at the former Toyota plant in St. Petersburg, with some employees relocated there.

Aurus was launched as a state-backed initiative intended to create a Russian alternative to premium Western brands such as Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Maybach. Production began in 2018, with officials initially projecting annual output of up to 5,000 vehicles.

However, Rzeczpospolita reported that actual production volumes remained far below those targets. Industry data cited by the outlet indicate that fewer than 150 vehicles were assembled in Yelabuga in 2024, with roughly 100 additional units produced elsewhere.

According to Rzeczpospolita, automotive analyst Sergey Tsyganov, who has been associated with the state research institute NAMI, described the project as commercially unsuccessful.

“They failed to turn the president’s toy into a genuine mass-market brand. There were big ambitions, but no economic justification.”

Industry sources cited by Rzeczpospolita said production costs at the Yelabuga facility remain too high for the project to become profitable regardless of output levels. Demand has also remained limited despite government support and the use of Aurus vehicles by Russian state institutions.

The company’s flagship Aurus Senat sedan reportedly starts at around $640,000 (50 million rubles), while armored and extended versions used by senior Russian officials can exceed $1.5 million.

A newer and less expensive model, the Aurus 900, reportedly based on the Chinese Hongqi H9 platform, is expected to start at around $150,000 (12 million rubles) and could be assembled in St. Petersburg if the project moves forward.

According to Rzeczpospolita, the St. Petersburg production plan faces several challenges, including the absence of a long-term industrial partner, workforce shortages, and uncertain market demand. The newspaper also reported that Chinese luxury automaker Hongqi has not agreed to participate in local production efforts in Russia.

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Ownership of the Aurus project has changed in recent years. Russian automaker Sollers sold its stake in 2024, while Gazprom Tech, a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, became a shareholder in 2025. The company is now viewed as one of the key entities supporting the continuation of the program.

Industry experts cited by Rzeczpospolita believe Aurus may eventually return to a limited-production model focused primarily on supplying government agencies and Russia’s official state vehicle fleet. Production volumes in such a scenario could be reduced to roughly 250 vehicles annually.

Earlier, The Moscow Times reported that Russia’s federal budget deficit exceeded 6 trillion rubles ($83.5 billion) by the end of May, surpassing the government’s full-year target by 1.6 times as falling energy revenues and rising war-related spending continued to strain state finances.

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