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GM Uzbekistan to manufacture new Chevrolet small car

Business Materials 13 February 2010 10:27 (UTC +04:00)

Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Feb. 8 / Trend D.Azizov /

Feb.11, representatives of General Motors Company in Korea and UzAvtoSanoat of Uzbekistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Seoul, Korea, for their GM Uzbekistan joint venture to launch the production of a new small vehicle mainly destined for emerging markets.

The MOU was signed by GM DAT Vice President Product Planning & Program Management Dwenell Mills and UzAvtoSanoat Vice Chairman Shukhrat Yusupov, in the presence of Republic of Uzbekistan First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov.

The MOU will also enable Chevrolet to continue to grow its business in Uzbekistan, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russia.

"The excellent cars jointly produced and exported by UzAvtoSanoat and GM DAT are contributing greatly to the growth of Uzbekistan's automotive industry and economic development," said Azimov. He continued, "Uzbekistan's automotive industry will reach global standards in the near future with the help and support of General Motors and agreements like this one."

"Uzbekistan, where we recently also began construction of a new powertrain facility, is Chevrolet's core production base in the high-potential markets of Central Asia and a significant strategic partner for our export business," said GM DAT President and CEO Mike Arcamone. "We will continue to support our Uzbekistan operations through the introduction of new products and the means to build them."

AO UzDaewooAuto was created on a parity basis by the Uzbek government and South Korean Daewoo Motor. In May 2005, Uzavtosanoat purchased 50 percent of Daewoo Motor shares for about $110 million. GM owns 25 percent of the shares and has one share in the new venture.

Currently, GM Uzbekistan produces six types of cars, including two models of Chevrolet - Captiva and Epica.

GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture of General Motors (GM) and Uzavtosanoat, increased car production by 5.1 percent to 205,011 units in 2009.

In 2009, the venture produced 90,650 Nexia cars (down by 4.6 percent), 69,130 Matiz compact cars (down by 1.4 percent), 1, 098 Epica (down by 46.7 percent), 1,100 Captica (down by 41.9 percent) and 23,633 Damas minivans (down by 3.6 percent). The company produced 19,400 Lacetti cars in the reporting period (up 14 times).

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