GAZ does not build many cars like the Volga Siber: a 4-door saloon with 2.0 L Chrysler 1.8, 2.0 & 2.4 engine#ECC, built from 2008 to 2010 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Its designer of record is UltraMotive.
How it came about
The Volga Siber is a four-door sedan manufactured by the Russian firm GAZ, introduced at the 2007 Moscow International Automobile Salon and marketed in a single generation for model years 2008 to 2010. Manufactured under license from Chrysler, the Siber used the superseded platform and tooling from the second generation Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Stratus with slight design modifications executed by the British studio UltraMotive to its grille and headlights.
Other modifications were limited to a stiffer suspension and higher ground clearance. The Siber was introduced at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, and though annual production of 40,000 vehicles had been planned, sales were not as expected and 9,000 had been manufactured by the time the Siber was discontinued after model year 2010.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 2.0 L Chrysler 1.8, 2.0 & 2.4 engine#ECC; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 1555 kg. The gearbox is a 5-speed manual / 4-speed Ultradrive / 41TE automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 108.9 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in GAZ's history is not in doubt: the GAZ-31105 / GAZ-3111 / Chrysler Sebring (Russian version) came before it; the Volga С40 (2024, cancelled) / Volga C50 (2026) followed it; it was built at Nizhny Novgorod. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Tesla Roadster, the Nissan 370Z, the Hyundai i30. Its GAZ stablemates include the Chaika and the GAZ 24-24.