Tag Archives: automobiles

Kazakh car manufacturers report production rise

JUNE 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh carmakers doubled domestic production in May compared to April, according to the Association of the Kazakh Automobile Business, but overall sales are still lower this year.

Car production and demand are a decent weathermast for checking the health of economies. Kazakhstan, like the rest of the region, has been struggling to cope with the fallout from a decline in economic conditions, linked mainly to a fall in global oil prices.

This drop in car sales and production numbers.

Overall, car sales have slumped by around a third in Kazakhstan in the first quarter of the year compared to 2014 but there was a definite uptick in domestic production last month. Domestic manufacturers produced 2,611 new cars in May up from t 1,248 cars in April.

The car market is still suffering from slow sales in the first quarter of 2015, down 32% from the last quarter of 2014.

Car manufacturing has become increasingly important to Kazakhstan’s economy, employing hundreds of people. Most of the industry is based around Kostanai in the north of the country and Oskemen, or Ust-Kamenogorsk as it was called until recently, in the east.

In Kazakhstan, car sales hit 160,000 in 2013, up nearly 70% from 2012. There was a slight drop in 2014 and 2015 is shaping up to be an even bigger drop. This will likely be the first time that car sales have declined for two years in a row in Kazakhstan since 2008 and 2009, during the global economic crisis.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Uzbek car-maker offers discount to boost sales

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek-US joint car-maker General Motors Uzbekistan said it would discount two of its models by 15% until the end of 2015, an admission of sorts that its needs to boost sales to counter a falling market linked to economic turmoil in Russia.

Customers, though, can only claim the 15% discount on Lacetti and Cobalt cars by paying in US dollars with international debit and credit cards.

The car plant in the eastern town of Andijan is critical for jobs in the surrounding region and also an important barometer of Uzbek industry.

Most of its sales are made in Russia and also in neighbouring Kazakhstan but the fall in oil prices has hit the region and badly dented demand for cars.

In March, the plant sold 1,757 cars compared to 4,604 cars in the same month a year earlier, the Association of European Businesses, an industry lobby group, said.

As well as driving up car sales (pun intended), the government may also be looking to bolster US dollar flows in its economy.

Information leaking out of Uzbekistan on the state of the economy is light but it does appear to show that the slowdown in the Russian economy is having a major impact on Uzbekistan. Remittances are hugely important in Uzbekistan. They rely on a strong Russian economy. Economists have estimated that these will fall by 40% this year. Global gas prices, another important foreign currency earner for Uzbekistan, are also low.

By imposing a dollar payment scheme on car buyers, the Uzbek government may be trying to get hard currency flowing through the system once again as well as boosting sales at its flagship industrial asset.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Uzbekistan car sales to remain low

APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has made plans to deal with a sustained slump in demand from Russia for its cars, media reported quoting an Uzbek government source.

It said that sales would remain relatively low for its cars until 2019.

This is important because demand from Russia is the main driver of Uzbek car production. This is centred on the GM Uzbekistan plant in Andijan, east Uzbekistan.

GM Uzbekistan, which is 25% owned by US carmaker GM and 75% owned by the Uzbek government, recorded a 38% slump in car sales to Russia in 2014. It also recorded a slump of around 60% in the first quarter of the year, according to reports.

News agencies said sales to Russia between January and March were 5,411 cars from GM Uzbekistan compared to 12,858 in 2014.

Like other countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Uzbekistan is strug- gling to cope with the severe economic collapse over the past few months, triggered by a collapse in oil prices and sanctions on Russia. The Russian economy is a vital engine for the wider regional economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Uzbekistan approves JV with Man Group

APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government passed a law that will pave the way for a joint venture between Uzavtomprom and Germany’s MAN Group to build truck cabins. The factory should be operational by 2016. Uzbekistan has developed a substantial auto industry although a region-wide economic decline has hit demand.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Kazakhstan to subsidise car-makers

APRIL 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will give car-makers 35b tenge ($188m) to help them survive the economic downturn, media reported quoting First Vice Minister for the Economy, Marat Kussainov. Kazakhstan’s car-makers have been hit hard by the sharp drop in the rouble because Russia was one of its biggest markets.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Uzbekistan wants to export cars to Azerbaijan

MARCH 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s deputy PM, Ulugbek Rozukulov, met with the Azerbaijani economy minister, Shahin Mustafayev to discuss increased cooperation and specifically whether Azerbaijan will be able to buy cars that had been built for the Russia market before the collapse of the rouble and the economic crisis.
-ENDS-

(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)

Uzbekistan to send car parts to Brazil

FEB. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A car plant factory in Uzbekistan has started producing parts for cars in Brazil, media reported. UzSungwoo is an Uzbek-Korean joint venture. It was set up to produce parts for GM’s plant in Uzbekistan. Demand has dropped at the GM plant because of an economic crisis, possibly triggering UzSungwoo to sell to Brazil.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)

Don’t devalue again -leading Kazakh businessman

JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nurlan Smagulov, head of the Astana Motors car dealer and an influential businessman, stepped into the debate over the Kazakh tenge. At a press conference, he said policymakers should not devalue the currency for the second time as this would undermine its credibility and knock consumer spending.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Uzbek car sales to Russia drop

JAN. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — GM Uzbekistan sold 38% fewer cars in Russia in 2014 than it did in 2013, media reported quoting the European Businesses Association. The data highlights the impact that the falling rouble and the economic turmoil in Russia is having across the former Soviet Union. Russia is GM Uzbekistan’s biggest market.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)

Car imports from Russia to Kazakhstan rise

JAN. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Car imports to Kazakhstan from Russia have jumped in the past two months to 2,859 from 2,005 during the same period in 2013, Kazakh media reported quoting government officials. The upturn is linked to the currency discrepancies. The rouble has nose-dived but the Kazakh Central Bank has kept the tenge strong.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)