There is a Tenet: what happened at the Kaluga automobile plant
On January 28, a fire broke out in one of the premises at the Tenet automobile plant in the Kaluga Region. A number of media outlets hastened to draw conclusions about the possible suspension of the production of cars of this brand. How the accident affected the operation of the car factory and affected production processes. The Izvestia correspondent visited the enterprise the day after the emergency.
The smoke did not match the fire level
On January 28, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Kaluga region, a fire was detected at the enterprise. According to Andrey Karagin, CEO of AGR Holding, the incident occurred in a non-production room located in the far corner of one of the welding facilities.
— All fire extinguishing systems have been activated, including smoke extraction systems. It is their work that is visible in the published videos from the scene. The smoke that was seen in the videos from the Internet did not correspond to the level of fire that actually existed," he told Izvestia during a tour of the enterprise.
Andrey Karagin stressed that during the incident, all employees of the company promptly left the danger zone, there were no casualties.
Production was not affected
During the incident, the work of some production sites of the automobile plant was temporarily suspended, the company told Izvestia. This was necessary to protect the personnel and eliminate the consequences of the fire by the staff of the operational services. However, despite the state of emergency, the car production process did not stop, the automobile plant emphasized. The company has now fully returned to normal operation.
Parking spaces at the factory site are packed with cars. About two dozen people are sitting in the lobby of the enterprise, waiting for an interview, and new employees are being recruited.
In the welding workshop, workers and dozens of robots make Tenet car bodies, which are sent to the paint shop. There are no blackened walls or coals, and there is not even a burning smell. There is also no evidence of a recent fire in the assembly shop, where thousands of parts are being turned into a finished car. Finished cars rhythmically roll off the assembly line, go through the final inspection station, after which they leave for a small track and go to the sites where car carriers are already waiting for them.
— The equipment that was in the room where the fire occurred was not involved in the main production process. The production lines that are used to produce cars are not affected or damaged. To date, the working capacity has been fully restored, and the plant has returned to normal operation," Andrey Karagin told Izvestia.
He drew attention to the large monitor in the office of the head of one of the workshops, which displays the progress of the workflow in real time. Now everything is "green" in the diagram — there are no failures.
On the scale of the site itself, the facility where the fire occurred is very small, explains the CEO of the holding, showing it on the diagram of the production facility. There it occupies one small "square".
How will the fire affect car production?
The day before, a number of media outlets and experts suggested that the incident could seriously affect the production of Tenet cars. However, at the enterprise itself, such conclusions and assumptions are considered unfounded.
— This incident did not affect the production plans in any way. The January 2026 plan will be implemented in full. We do not plan any delays from the schedule, any under-production of cars, or under-production. There will be no failures or deviations," Andrey Karagin assured.
About 500 cars are produced per day at AGR Holding, its CEO noted. Therefore, the losses in the daily car production plan due to the incident were minimal, he stressed.
What about the damage?
The incident certainly led to certain losses, the company notes. However, it is premature to talk about specific amounts of damage now.
— I think it will be clear a little later. Experts and specialists are currently working at the scene. I would like to note that all the production equipment is in good condition," said Andrey Karagin.
Results and plans
Since entering the market in September and until the end of 2025, the new Russian automobile brand Tenet has sold 33.5 thousand cars and by the end of December entered the top three of the country's car market.
Last December, the Tenet T4 compact crossover rose to the top spot in the SUV B segment. The second place in the SUV C segment was taken by the mid-size Tenet T7, and the flagship Tenet T8 entered the top five in the SUV D segment. All of them are manufactured at the AGR Holding plant in the Kaluga region.
In 2026, Tenet plans to introduce two new models to the Russian market and introduce new modifications to existing ones.
In the first half of the year, production of the flagship T9 crossover will begin at the Kaluga plant, it was presented at a presentation in Moscow. Details about the equipment and prices will be revealed later. Another unnamed model has also been announced.
In addition, representatives of Tenet said that the compact crossover T4 and seven-seat T8 will enter the market in new versions.
Devastating fire
The largest incident in the history of the Russian automotive industry was a fire at the KAMAZ engine plant on April 14, 1993.
The fire was completely extinguished on April 21. The production building of the plant with an area of 420 thousand m2 was put out of operation.
The first KamAZ-7405 engine after the fire was assembled on April 2, 1994.
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