GM has just signed a series of agreements to assist UzAuto in production of vehicles for the Uzbekistan region, as well as expand cooperation between the Detroit-based automaker and UzAvtoSanoat-owned UzAuto.
According to a report by Wards Auto, this agreement is expected to increase production of vehicles to 500,000 in 2023, and to 1 million in the following years.
Specifically, these agreements will increase yearly production of Chevy Cobalt sedans and Damas vans to around 150,000 examples each. To support this effort, GM has pledged to provide an uninterrupted supply of the necessary electronics not produced in Uzbekistan, like microcircuits and onboard computers. This will allow UzAuto to continue to expand its operations, as the automaker seeks to broaden its lineup to include the Chevy Trailblazer and Onix sedan in the future.
Speaking of expanded operations, both parties discussed the possibility of kick-starting small-scale production efforts of Chevy vehicles in other countries in the region, particularly Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. If fruitful, this expansion could make UzAuto the largest automaker of all the post-Soviet nations.
According to the statistics from Uzbekistan, roughly 237,000 cars were manufactured in Uzbekistan in 2021. As of November 2022, UzAuto produced 280,000 cars this year. Furthermore, Tom Cooney, GM Vice President for Global Affairs, said that more than 1.5 million vehicles had been built in Uzbekistan as a result of the cooperation between the two parties, and that more than 27,000 jobs had been created.
As a reminder, UzAuto was formerly a joint venture between General Motors and state-owned UzAvtoSanoat. UzAuto was created after UzAvtoSanoat bought out GM’s remaining 25 percent stake in 2019.
Currently, UzAuto operates a plant in eastern Uzbekistan, where vehicles built were typically exported to Russia. This exportation was suspended in February following the invasion of Ukraine, while since then UzAuto has focused on other countries in the region.
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Comments
Interesting – wasn’t aware of this facility. Does anyone know if this is a full-fledged assembly plant or whether they just piece together knock-down kits from other GM plants?
Not Chevy Trailblazer, UzAuto launched Chevy Tracker. Anyway thanks for sharing information)