Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Changan Automobile Group sold over 6,000 vehicles in Uzbekistan in 2014-2017, a source in the Chinese company told Trend.
The company representative also noted that Uzbekistan is one of the most important markets of Changan Overseas, and the company’s production is very popular there.
“The company decided to open its first facility in Uzbekistan because the country has an important location for the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. On top of that the local automotive industry is matured, which is advantage to opening new automotive facilities,” the source said.
The source also added that at the beginning stage, the cars manufactured in a planned car assembly facility will be sold in the local market only, after which the company will also consider export to other countries of Central Asia through Uzbekistan.
It was earlier reported that the Chinese Changan Automobile Group can start producing electric cars in Uzbekistan.
During the meeting in the Uzbek ministry on June 9, representatives of the Chinese company expressed their intention to consider possibility of building an assembly factory for electric cars with further localization prospect in the Fergana Valley.
The parties agreed on signing a memorandum of cooperation in the very near future. In case of successful start of the project, it is planned to invest about $15-20 million and to create 100-150 workplaces for carrying out assembly of 1,000 electric cars a year. At the second stage, localization of production is planned with attraction of capacities of the neighboring enterprises of the republic and with increase in number of direct and indirect jobs.
Changan Automobile Group Co. Ltd. is among the “big four” Chinese automakers, which manufacture highest number of cars. The car company has joint ventures with Ford Motor, Suzuki Motor, Mazda Motor and PSA Peugeot Citroen. Changan Headquarters is located in Chongqing.
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