MOSCOW, Feb 6: Russia’s largest auto maker OAO AvtoVAZ said on Friday it has halted production because it is short of car parts.

The maker of Lada cars 25 per cent owned by France’s Renault SA stopped production lines indefinitely on Thursday because it does not have enough supplies, company spokes-woman Natalya Sidoruk told The Associated Press.

Industry analysts said AvtoVAZ is piling up debt with suppliers, who now want the company to pay them mostly in cash instead of the promissory notes that have been used to cover 80 per cent of invoices.—AP