Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

GM Uzbekistan, the former UzDaewooAuto, sold more than 9,340 Ravon cars in Russia in January-September 2017, the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the European Business Association reported.

The company sold more than 1,600 Ravon cars in Russia in September 2017, according to the committee.

Russia is the main export market of GM Uzbekistan. The share of GM Uzbekistan’s cars on the Russian market amounted to 0.8 percent for January-September of the current year.

GM Uzbekistan took 19th place in terms of sales of cars in Russia, according to the results for the mentioned period. None of the models of GM Uzbekistan was included in the Top-25 bestsellers in the reporting period.

GM Uzbekistan’s car sales on the Russian market reduced by over 40 percent in 2016 and 42 percent in the first half of 2017. Sales number reduction was caused by an overall decline in the Russian car market.

The continuing decline can also be partly traced back to Russia's introduction of a recycling duty on imported cars following its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2012. This levy has driven up the price of Uzbek cars on the Russian market, thus making them less competitive.

GM Uzbekistan, formerly known as UzDaewooAuto, was created in 1996 on a parity basis by Uzbekistan and South Korean Daewoo Motors.

In 2005, Uzbekistan acquired Daewoo's shares in UzDaewooAuto. In 2007, Uzavtoprom (Uzbek Association of Automotive Industry Enterprises) and the U.S.-based General Motors signed an agreement to establish the GM Uzbekistan with an authorized capital of $266.7 million.

General Motors owns 25 percent shares in the GM Uzbekistan plus one share with a possibility of increasing it to 40 percent. At the moment, 75 percent of the shares belong to the UzAvtosanoat.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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