The Aurus Senat, which serves as the luxury car of Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be produced in a Toyota factory. According to Auto Hindustan Times on Monday (13/5/2024), the Toyota factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, has long been abandoned by the Japanese manufacturer.
This occurred as a response from Toyota, who disagreed with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022. At that time, Toyota decided to leave and handed over their factory in St. Petersburg to Russia.
“This facility was handed over by Toyota to the country, which also has a majority stake in Aurus,” wrote Auto Hindustan Times.
After being dormant for so long, Russia finally reactivated the factory. However, the factory will no longer produce Toyota cars but instead the Aurus Senat, one unit of which serves as the presidential car for Vladimir Putin.
“The Aurus Senat is a modern version of the Soviet-era ZIL limousine and is believed to be one of the safest motor vehicles in the world,” claimed Aurus.
Previously, the Aurus Senat was produced at the Aurus factory in Tatarstan. However, Russia saw the need for centralized production to maintain the exclusivity of the Aurus Senat.
Moreover, the Aurus Senat is not targeting very large sales volumes. The large-sized sedan is indeed targeted at upper-class consumers.
Currently, the Aurus Senat is sold in two versions: standard and exclusive. The standard Aurus Senat is a sedan with dimensions of 5,631 mm in length and weighing 2,700 kilograms.
The exclusive version is the Aurus Senat used as the presidential car. This version is customized for Vladimir Putin with longer dimensions.
The exclusive Aurus Senat also features advanced defense technology. The car body has been given special protective plate layers, reinforced glass, bomb-resistant floor protection, puncture-resistant rubber tires, as well as integrated offensive weapons and independent oxygen supply.
However, the mechanical heart of both versions remains the same, with a V12 6.6-liter engine producing a maximum power of 850 horsepower. Vladimir Putin has previously gifted an exclusive version of the Aurus Senat to his friend, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.
