MOSCOW - Chinese car manufacturer Chery is in talks with Russian manufacturers about producing cars in Russian plants, Russia's state-owned news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing Vladimir Shmakov, director of Chery's Russian branch.

"First of all in our plans is the need to localise production on Russian territory," TASS cited Shmakov as saying.

TASS also cited Shmakov as saying he wanted to increase Chery's Russia sales to around 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles in 2022.

Chery is China's ninth largest vehicle manufacturer, with sales of 959,000 vehicles in 2021. According to the Association of European Business, Chery sold 40,874 vehicles in Russia in 2021.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Jason Neely)