JULY 6 2012 – Foreign cars are increasingly clogging up the streets of Kazakhstan’s cities.
Many are battered second-hand imports from Europe but,
as reported in issue 15 of the Kazakhstan News Extra, more
and more are new mid-range cars manufactured in the
country.
Several car firms have opened factories in Kazakhstan as
the market grows. Now, though, Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev wants Kazakhstan to develop its own brand.
Kazakh media reported that a Kazakh brand called Nomad
will start producing an SUV, or 4×4, car by 2013 (July 3).
The industrial group Agromash will produce the car from a
factory in Kostanai, northern Kazakhstan, in a joint
venture with South Korean group Ssang Yong. Ssang Yong
already produces the Korando, a small SUV.
The timing of the announcement that Kazakhstan was to
produce its own car may, just, have been coincidental but
on the same day Mr Nazarbayev also derided members of his
own government for buying expensive foreign-built cars
rather than cheaper cars manufactured in Kazakhstan.
“We make our own cars! But they want Mercedes!” the AFP
news agency reported. “Let them do this out of their own
pockets. Ban this immediately.”
Strong stuff. Soon, if all goes to plan, Kazakhstan will
indeed have its own car brand.
— ENDS —
This article was taken from issue 17 of the weekly Kazakhstan News Extra, published on July 6. To see an example of the newssheet, click here. To subscribe to the newssheet, click here.