Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: March 1, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAvtovaz will resume a full working week in January 2026 after reduced hours due to low demand. The Russian car market is slowly recovering.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's largest carmaker Avtovaz plans to restore a full five-day working week on January 1 after three months of reduced working time, as the production outlook improves, the company said on Thursday.
Russia's depressed car market showed weak signs of recovery at the end of 2025. Buyers expect prices to go up in coming months as a result of higher scrappage fees, but Russian carmakers are expected to suffer less because they enjoy state support.
Avtovaz, which employs more than 30,000 people, introduced a shortened work week starting September 29 to align production with weakening demand and to reduce its inventory.
"No layoffs are planned, hiring continues, the number of voluntary resignations compared to previous months is decreasing," Avtovaz said.
It added that the working schedule and the number of shifts at different production lines will depend on market demand.
Avtovaz was one of the Russian carmakers reducing its production amid weak demand caused by central bank's high interest rates and recycling fees, pushing up car prices.
Russian passenger car production fell 46.7% in October from a year earlier, and the market is expected to shrink about 20% in 2025.
Reuters reported in October that some of Russia's biggest industrial companies were putting employees on furlough or cutting staff as the war economy slows, domestic demand stalls and exports dry up.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
A full working week typically refers to a standard schedule where employees work five days, usually Monday to Friday, for a total of 40 hours.
Scrappage fees are charges imposed for disposing of old vehicles, often incentivizing consumers to trade in their old cars for new ones.
Inventory reduction is a strategy used by companies to decrease the amount of unsold goods they hold, often to improve cash flow and reduce storage costs.
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