After the anniversary edition UAZ Hunter 2023, the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant has confirmed that it will continue to produce an SUV. Representatives of the company said that it will produce this model as long as there is demand for it. Moreover, judging by the reports, production will continue even if the SUV is sold in limited quantities.
This comes directly from the statement that UAZ has extensive experience in assembling a small number of vehicles. At the same time, representatives of the enterprise did not rule out the possibility of replacing the current model range with modern products. However, this process will be gradual. That is, Hunter will exist on the market for as long as there is demand for it.
It is important to note that this model is bought not only by ordinary citizens or private organizations, but also by government departments. Shipment volumes of the latter are not officially disclosed. Therefore, it is possible that even if domestic motorists completely refuse to buy Hunter, UAZ will continue to produce it as long as there are orders from the relevant government agencies. In particular, the Ministry of Defense can support the production of the car within certain limits.
At the same time, there is a certain probability that UAZ will soon update Hunter. Moreover, this can happen during 2023. Representatives of UAZ recently reported that the company will soon start equipping some of its models with a new 2-liter turbodiesel engine. It will be borrowed from commercial vehicles JAC, which were assembled by Sollers, the owner of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, under their own brand. The maximum power of this turbodiesel reaches 139 hp, but for Hunter it can be derated. The reason is that the current version of the SUV is now equipped with a 137-horsepower “aspirated” 2.7-liter. Therefore, the return of the new turbodiesel may be too much for the car.
In addition, UAZ is preparing to update transmissions, which are now equipped with the entire model range. A few months ago, Russian media reported that the company had already abandoned the installation of a 5-speed manual transmission in favor of the Chinese “mechanics”. But the other day, the management of UAZ only announced plans to switch to a new 6-band gearbox. Hunter will probably get it soon too. True, so far UAZ has not announced the name of the models for which this manual transmission is intended.
In mid-December, news appeared that Russian Hunters were being sold on the Japanese market. However, they are imported here unofficially. More precisely, we are talking about the start of sales of Kazakh-assembled Hunters: they are produced under license by the SaryarkaAvtoProm company. It was she who, in collaboration with Le Parnass, organized the supply of cars to Japan. And in this case, there is no question of circumventing sanctions. According to the documents, the cars were produced outside of Russia.
As for the anniversary version of the Hunter, mentioned earlier, it differs from the standard modifications not only in the original body color, but also in the presence of an electric winch, breathers and a snorkel, which increases the depth of the ford to be overcome. The car in this performance was estimated at 1.65 million rubles. You can buy the anniversary version of the Hunter only through the official website: UAZ has decided not to ship such an SUV to its dealers. On this site, you can choose the serial number of the car and book it.