Yo-Auto Announces Another Hybrid Factory

Published February 21, 2012

By Jeff Cobb

With the first sale of his Russian Yo-Mobile hybrid car due in December this year, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said he will invest in a new assembly line for his inexpensive “peoples’ cars.”

“The next Yo-mobile plant must be built in the Far East to develop local innovation production,” Prokhorov said at a press conference in Russia.

Yo’s existing plant in St. Petersburg is capable of turning out approximately 45,000 vehicles annually, and this facility is also to be expanded to make way for twice this number.

Top speed for the little CNG or petrol-capable hybrids is 75 mph, and mpg as high as 67 is said to be possible.

As we previously said in a longer report, the first model is to be priced reasonably – although a more recent report has bumped initial reports of "under $10,000" to a still modest $12,000-$14,000.

With an estimated 0-62 mph time ranging between 8-14 seconds, specifications appear to vary widely, but cheap to buy and operate sound like a potential winner, and could explain why the company is now looking for more Yo-mobile production capacity before it has delivered its first one.

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