Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

GM Uzbekistan, the former UzDaewooAuto, sold 5,184 Ravon cars in Russia in January-May 2018, which is 40 percent more than in the same period in 2017.

This was reported by the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the European Business Association.

In January-May, sales of Ravon cars reached 5,184 (in 2017 – 3,707), which shows an increase of 40 percent. At the same time, May was a failure month for the Uzbek brand. In Russia, only 508 machines were sold last month, while in May 2017, the sales amounted to 1,219. The fall reached 58 percent.

“In general, for the five months of the current year, the share of the Ravon cars in the Russian market has increased from 0.6 to 0.7,” the committee noted.

The sale of cars under the Ravon brand abroad began in 2015, and this year they started inside the country [Uzbekistan].

Russia is the main export market of GM Uzbekistan. The market share of the Uzbek automaker increased from 0.1 percent in 2016 up to 0.9 percent.

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. Two years later 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.

Currently, 10 Chevrolet and Ravon car models are being produced at three production sites of the company.

The production of cars by General Motors Uzbekistan Ltd decreased by 7.4 percent in 2017 and amounted to more than 82,000, whereas in 2016, the production decreased by 52.5 percent, and in 2015 – by 24.5 percent.

In the coming years, the company intends to take a dominant role in the automobile market of Kazakhstan through an alliance with the Kazakh Allur Group of Companies JSC, and also to strengthen its position in the Russian market, including through the possible creation of an assembly plant near St. Petersburg.

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

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