OREANDA-NEWS  The cost of Lada cars will definitely increase in 2025, and the reason for the next indexation is the high key rate of the Central Bank, which makes loans more expensive. Maxim Sokolov, President of AvtoVAZ, told reporters about this, RIA Novosti reports.

"We, as an industrial enterprise, can absolutely confidently assert that, of course, the interest rate, which is based on the key rate, is the basis for the growth of production costs," he stressed.

The second factor, the head of the automaker called the depreciation of the ruble, which affects the cost of imports. According to Sokolov, the localization level of Lada is 90 percent, but many suppliers still receive raw materials from abroad.

The top manager stressed that these circumstances will in any case affect the decisions that will have to be made based on "objective macroeconomic conditions."

As for sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, Sokolov expects them to fall by 21-30 percent in 2025 due to high rates (1.3-1.4 million cars).

Earlier, the head of Rostec state corporation (co-owner of AvtoVAZ) Sergey Chemezov admitted that AvtoVAZ needs new support from the budget, and such actions are already being discussed. In turn, Mikhail Delyagin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, noted that if rates do not fall, the plant will soon "have to be closed to hell, the machines will be sold for scrap, and the people will be disbanded."