GM Schedules Russian Blazer Production for December

11/29/96

Reuters has reported that General Motors Corporation announced earlier this week that it will start making its Chevrolet Blazer sport utility vehicle in Tartarstan, an autonomous region of Russia. GM has scheduled production of the vehicle to begin in December at its joint venture with Elabuga Avtomobilny Zavod (ElAZ)--an enterprise that is owned in major part by the Tartarstan government. The joint venture between Elaz and GM was formed in December 1995: Elaz owns 75%, GM owns 25%. GM's plans call for it to invest up to $250 million in the plant.

Speaking about the beginning of production at the new plant, George Baker, vice president of General Motors Overseas Distribution Corp., said, "it's going to begin with limited assembly on small scale, gradually growing to 250 units a month. Our ultimate objective is to reach 4,500 units a month at the end of two years, so we can achieve our goal of producing 50,000 units annually."

Baker said that the plant will install more equipment and improve facilities to broaden the scope of its assembly functions as production increased. "We will construct a world-class paint booth, but it will take 20 to 24 months to complete," he said.

GM plans to source as much as 25 percent of the value of the Blazers from within Russia. Baker said that GM will contract Russian truckmaker AO KamAZ to help tool the plant. "KamAZ is going to provide us with a significant amount of spare parts and metal stamping," he said.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel