The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Chinese corporation XY Group (Xuan Yuan) will help the Russian company Kama establish production of Atom electric vehicles in China, but the specific site and start date for production have not yet been named.
In Russia, the production of Atom electric vehicles is expected to begin in 2025 at the Moskvich plant. Let us recall that the first Atom model will be a subcompact urban cross-hatchback (overall length — 3995 mm, ground clearance — 170 mm) on its own platform with a single- or dual-motor power plant. The debut version of the Atom will have a single 204-horsepower electric motor on the rear axle and a 77 kW h battery, a full charge of which is enough for about 500 km of travel. Since the Atom will be quite richly equipped (the developers position it as an electric car gadget), the price will be quite high — approximately 2.5 million to 3.5 million rubles.
In early June, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) became one of the investors in the Atom project, promising to invest 2 billion rubles in the production of Russian electric vehicles. In May, the RDIF opened an office in Harbin, China, with the aim of stimulating investment cooperation between Russia and China. Most likely, the assembly of Atom electric vehicles will be localized in Harbin, and on the Chinese side, the Xuan Yuan Corporation will help Atom enter the Chinese and, subsequently, the global markets. The official statement added that “the partnership also includes plans to open a joint research and development center in China.”
1/3 
2/3 
3/3
Xuan Yuan has a Russian-language version of its website, which states that the corporation was founded in 1995, its main areas of activity are international trade in railway machinery and industrial equipment, industrial and civil construction, energy and various investment projects. At the beginning of July, representatives of Xuan Yuan visited the Moskvich plant and met with the leaders of the Atom project; the result of these visits was the decision to establish production of Atom electric vehicles in China.
Many Russian car enthusiasts greeted the news with great skepticism that Atom electric cars will receive Chinese registration — they say, thus, they are initially trying to pass off a Chinese electric car as a Russian one. In fact, this is not so, the Atom cross-hatchback has no direct relatives in China, although some components of the Atom will be Chinese, and part of the Atom development program is being implemented in China. Chinese engineering in general is becoming more and more in demand in the global automotive industry: for example, it is known that Renault has entrusted a Chinese partner with the development of the fourth-generation Twingo electric hatchback, but this does not mean that the new Twingo will be a clone of some Chinese model. The new Renault Twingo will be produced in Slovenia, and not in China.
Another thing is that Atom’s prospects in the Chinese market do not seem too bright, since there are a huge number of their own electric gadgets here and very attractive prices, which none of the foreign automobile companies with representation and production in China can yet provide.