Uzbekistan’s Uzavtosanoat (UzAuto), which has assembled Chevrolet vehicles under licence from General Motors since 2007, has plans to expand into Kyrgyzstan, WardsAuto reported on May 1.

Production is reportedly expected to launch this summer at a $50mn, built-from-scratch plant located outside Bishkek, to be jointly operated by UzAuto and Kyrgyz automotive supplier DT Technik.

Kyrgyzstan Deputy Minister of Economy and Commerce Ainura Usenbekova was cited in Kyrgyz business publication Tazabek as saying the project was being implemented in three stages. Plans are said to outline how up to 10,000 vehicles will be assembled from semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits within 12 to 20 months of the plant’s commissioning. Around 500 jobs will be created.

Output is targeted at 20,000 units by 2027, with the launch of components production also planned, said WardsAuto. By 2030, it added, the plant was to start building up to 30,000 vehicles a year from complete-knocked-down (CKD) kits. By then it would employ 3,000 people.

The first vehicles to be assembled at the plant will be Chevrolet Cobalt compact sedans and Isuzu commercial vehicles, but plans envisage the eventual production of 19 models including sedans, pickups and mini-buses, the trade journal said.

Uzavtosanoat factories, located in the Uzbek cities of Asaka and Pitnak and employing 11,000 workers, had an overall capacity of 340,000 units in 2022.