Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 23
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
GM Uzbekistan Joint Venture (former UzDaewooAuto in Asaka) sold 20,888 cars to Russia, which is the main export market of the car plant, in January-May 2014 or 12 percent less than in the same period of 2013, the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Business said.
The automobile plant sold some 3,519 cars in Russia in May, which is 1 percent less compared to May 2013, according to the committee.
As of May 2014, the Uzbek automobile plant volume of car sales to Russia ranked 17th. However, none of the car models manufactured by GM Uzbekistan entered the top 25 of best-selling cars during this period.
The share of GM Uzbekistan cars in the Russian market decreased from 2.2 percent in January-May 2013 to 2 percent since early 2014, according to the Automobile Manufacturers Committee.
GM Uzbekistan JV decreased car sales to Russia by 31.1 percent (to 60,829 cars) in 2013, compared to 2012.
The sales of GM Uzbekistan cars also reduced in Kazakhstan. Car sales in Uzbekistan decreased by more than two-fold - to 2,245 in January-May this year, according to the association.
The new technical regulations introduced in Kazakhstan affected a decrease in sales. Most of the cars imported from Uzbekistan can not pass the car equipping standards.
Imports of GM Uzbekistan cars were banned in early January 2014. But according to the decision of the Kazakh government in May 2014, the permission for Nexia and Matiz car sale has been extended until July 1, 2014.
GM Uzbekistan exported 13,707 cars to Kazakhstan in 2013, ranking third in terms of sale volume (8 percent of the market volume) following Russia (52 percent) and Japan (9 percent).
UzDaewooAuto JSC was created in 1996 on a parity basis by the Uzbek government and South Korea's Daewoo Motor Company.
Uzbekistan bought Daewoo shares in a joint venture in 2005. Uzavtoprom and General Motors signed an agreement to establish a base for the GM Uzbekistan plant with an authorized capital of $266.7 million in 2007. The U.S. side owns 25 percent of the shares plus one share in the enterprise, with the possibility of increasing it to 40 percent.
Currently, some 75 percent of the shares belong to Uzavtoprom.
Currently, GM Uzbekistan JV produces nine car models. Two of these models, namely, Chevrolet - Captiva and Malibu are manufactured on SDK technology, while others are produced as part of full-scale production.
The automobile plant increased its car production by 4.5 percent (to 246,031 cars) in 2013, compared to 2012, and exported around 90,200 cars (a 2.3 percent increase).