GM to decide on 2nd model with Russian VAZ Q1 '03

MOSCOW, Oct 21, 2002 Reuters is reporting that General Motors Corp will decide early next year whether to start producing a second model at its joint venture car plant with Russia's AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.RTS), the company said on Monday.

"The next priority for us in co-operation with AvtoVAZ is the joint production of the second model, which has not been approved yet, but it would be done in the first quarter of the next year," general director GM CIS Heidi McCormack told journalists on Monday.

General Motors and AvtoVAZ launched a $332 million joint venture at the end of September 2002 to produce the Chevy-Niva sport utility vehicle.

GM-AvtoVAZ, located in Togliatti on the Volga River in central Russia, plans to produce 450 cars this year and 35,000 in 2003. The factory's installed capacity is 75,000 cars a year.

McCormack gave no details about the second model, but both companies have previously said it could be a variant of the Opel Astra T-3000.

McCormack did not rule out producing a third model in future if the co-operation with AvtoVAZ is succesful.

General Motors is also discussing with AvtoVAZ the possibility of building an engine factory in Togliatti.