Sergey Kogogin, Director General of KAMAZ PTC, held a press conference at the COMTRANS 2021 international exhibition of commercial vehicles in Moscow yesterday.
At the beginning, Sergey Kogogin noted that KAMAZ was receptive to changing trends and consumer preferences. That is why the company's stand presents the future of KAMAZ and the Russian truck industry. Along with CNG buses, articulated electric buses, trolley buses, gas-powered trucks, there is a hydrogen-powered electric bus, an electric garbage truck, the first K6 truck shown at the exhibition.
The Russian media asked Sergey Kogogin about the future of some exhibits. Answering the question whether the company will continue producing trucks with K3 cabs, the head of the company said that KAMAZ would always have a client for whom the price issue would be decisive. At the same time, he said that K4 trucks would be out of production from 2024. “The K4 line will end up in 2023. Firstly, we need no cannibalism within one premium line, eating each other is useless. Secondly, you know that Axor has long been taken out of production by Mercedes, which entailed troubles by the supply of components,” explained Kogogin.
The head of KAMAZ also spoke about the prospects of a new light commercial Compass truck. The Russian manufacturer plans to launch its serial production and sales this year.
The speaker touched upon not only vehicles, but also the infrastructure development for gas- and hydrogen-powered vehicles. According to KAMAZ’s Director General, this is not actually the company's business, but this question exists, and it’s burning.
During his speech, Sergey Kogogin also noted that the past year, despite the pandemic and new extraordinary working conditions, was quite successful for KAMAZ. The plant not only survived, but also expanded its product line, increased its market power. The company’s performance in 2020 and the first half of 2021 is proof of it. According to Sergey Kogogin, KAMAZ's financial results for 2021 are expected to be significantly higher than last year's ones. “We are confident that we will have received good financial results by the end of the year. Our volume of business will greatly exceed last year’s results,” he said. By the way, the net profit of KAMAZ under IFRS amounted to 3.1 billion rubles last year and almost 4 billion rubles within the first half of this year.