Baku, Azerbaijan, July 30
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbek automaker Uzavtosanoat JSC has achieved an agreement with manufacturers of car components to reduce prices by an average of 20 percent by the end of 2018, Uzbek media reported citing Chairman of the Board of Uzavtosanoat Shavkat Umurzakov as saying at a meeting of the International Press Club.
“We will act step by step. If we tell manufacturers to immediately reduce the prices by 30 percent, then we will literally destroy their businesses completely. Production of cars will be further reduced and there will be an even greater deficit, as these companies have loans with interest rates ranging from 10 to 20 percent,” Umurzakov explained.
He noted that lowering the prices for components will reduce the cost of car production by 9 percent and increase production volume to 220,000 units per year.
The head of the company noted that Uzavtosanoat is planning to produce additional 140,000 cars by the end of 2018.
Umurzakov underlined that manufacturers will deliver components in time, so that there is no artificial demand.
It was also announced at the same meeting that Uzbek automaker GM Uzbekistan will raise prices for cars from Aug. 1, 2018.
According to Umurzakov, the prices for the company's cars will grow by an average of 14 percent. He, however, noted that the company plans to provide discounts for consumers.
Explaining the increase in car prices, Umurzakov noted that such a move is caused not just by monopoly.
“Production capacity of the Asaka plant is 290,000 cars per year, but we produce only 160,000. Due to the fact that the plant operates only at 50 percent of its capacity, the cost of products is high. This hurts the buyers' pockets and negatively affects the export potential of the enterprise,” he said.
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