Russian Auto Maker To Name New Chief

   (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 3/8/16) 
   By Jason Chow in Paris and James Marson in Moscow

Bo Andersson, chief executive of OAO AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest car maker, plans to step down, according to the majority owner of the money-losing firm.

French car maker Renault SA, along with its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co., said Mr. Andersson would be leaving his post after two years on the job.

State-owned conglomerate Rostec is a minority shareholder in AvtoVAZ, which makes Lada-branded cars. Rostec Chief Executive Sergei Chemezov told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that Mr. Andersson would be relieved of his duties after AvtoVAZ reported a net loss of 74 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) for 2015 and said it needed a bailout, its second since 2009.

Renault and Nissan placed a large bet on Russia's auto market when they took a controlling stake in AvtoVAZ in 2014. Russia is the French company's only significant growth prospect outside Western Europe, but the combination of sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and tumbling oil prices drove Russia into recession last year.

Total car sales in the country slumped 36% to 1.6 million vehicles last year, according to industry data, and are forecast to fall to 1.3 million in 2016. Sales of AvtoVAZ's mainstay Lada cars were down 31% last year to 269,000 vehicles compared with 2014.

Renault-Nissan said AvtoVAZ board members are expected to decide Mr. Andersson's replacement on March 15.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 08, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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