Africans appreciate Russian SUVs

In August, in Cameroon launched the second stage of the rally, "Russian breakthrough." This was stated by the organizers at a press conference in Togliatti. "Russian Breakthrough" - a journey through Europe and Africa at the Russian off-roader. In the first phase path, which started January 4, 2007 in Moscow, fourteen people in five Russian cars (two Lada 4x4, UAZ Hunter, UAZ Patriot, Chevrolet Niva) traveled over 20 thousand kilometers. Much of this route has fallen to the African continent. All vehicles - serial, with minor modifications to the conditions of hot climate and terrain (protection of the power unit, the installation of high efficiency cooling system on the engine). Organizer path Vyacheslav Gotovtsev at a press conference in Togliatti spoke about the mission of this large-scale automobile campaign: "In Africa, few people know about today's Russia, and our goal was to talk about the fact that Russia is changing and improving in terms of culture, economy, industry, We produce modern automotive technology. In addition to the presentation of cars, we gave Russian literature, recordings, showed demos of our country. Meetings were held with the Ambassadors of Russia to Africa, we visited local universities, met with Russian emigres. " According to Vyacheslav Gotovtsev, interest in the Russian vehicles in Africa was enormous, and there are a lot of fans of domestic off-road vehicles. For example, a family doctor from the African hinterland Bazilida Sid has a fleet of Lada 4x4. Says the owner of the park, Lada 4x4, even helped him to become a member of city council, when in the midst of the campaign in the Russian off-road vehicle he can travel the nearby settlements and personally interact with voters. "Field - a great machine, simple in construction and maintenance, hardy," - said Bazilid Cid. The second phase will start run in late August. The column will travel to Ethiopia, where on September 11-12, participants of the "Russian breakthrough" will take part in the celebrations devoted to meeting the Millennium - this time in Ethiopia, local reckoning will be celebrated in 2000. Next rally will move to north Africa and back to Russia. In 2008, the organizers plan to repeat the rally in Africa, are being explored route. In this journey will also take part car Lada.