UzAuto Motors

(Redirected fromGM Uzbekistan)

UzAuto Motors (formerlyGM Uzbekistan) is anautomotive manufacturer owned by theGovernment of Uzbekistan.^[1] It is based inAsaka, Uzbekistan. It manufactures vehicles under theChevrolet marque. Formerly UzAuto Motors had also manufactured vehicles under the Ravon marque, which is Uzbek for calm and straight road or easy journey.

UzAuto Motors

Formerly	Uz-DaewooAuto (1992–2001) GM Uzbekistan (2008–2019)
Company type	Joint venture
Traded as	Tashkent Stock Exchange: UZMT
ISIN	UZ7003040001
Industry	Automotive
Predecessor	GM Uzbekistan (2008–2019)
Founded	March 2008; 17 years ago (2008-03)
Fate	Acquired by theGovernment of Uzbekistan in 2019
Headquarters	81 Humo Street, Asaka , Uzbekistan
Number of locations	2 production plants (Asaka, Pitnak) and 1 branch (Tashkent)
Key people	Bo Andersson, CEO
Products	Automobiles
Production output	327 thousand vehicles (2022)
Brands	Chevrolet Ravon
Revenue	3,265,415,000 USD (2022)
Net income	235,119,000 USD (2022)
Owner	Publicly traded company (99,7% owned by the state through Uzavtosanoat, 0,3% private equity)
Number of employees	16,000 (August, 2023)
Parent	UzAvtosanoat JSC (99.7%) through its subsidiary PVM LLC
Website	uzautomotors.com

It was formerly partly owned byGeneral Motors and, in 2019, it was acquired by the Uzbekistan government and renamed "UzAuto Motors". By February 2023, the company completed anIPO on theTashkent Stock Exchange.^[2]

History

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Uzbek stamps of the Daewoo Matiz and Nexia models

The company was founded in 1992 between the Uzbek state-owned UzAvtosanoat and the South Korea-basedDaewoo, and was initially known as "Uz-DaewooAuto" (Uzbek:O'z-DeuAvto).^[3] The company began production of vehicles on 19 July 1996, at the new assembly plant inAsaka.^[3]

Uz-DaewooAuto produced vehicles under the brand name Uz-Daewoo.^[3] The initiative to establish the Uzbek automobile industry goes back to the early 1990s and the administration ofPresident of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.^[4]

Following Daewoo's collapse in 2001, and resulting change of ownership, "GM Uzbekistan" was eventually established in March 2008 as a new replacementjoint venture, and the Nexia and Matiz were sold under theChevrolet badge together with an extended range ofGM Korea Chevrolet models produced at the Asaka factory.

Daewoo was acquired byGeneral Motors and becameGM Daewoo. Subsequently, the facility was renamed "GM Uzbekistan" in 2008. Thejoint venture was owned by UzAvtosanoat JSC (75%) andGeneral Motors (25%).^[5] GM Uzbekistan produced 106,334 units during the first half of 2011.^[6]

Given the change in name and ownership, the model range changed, although the company continued producing Uz-Daewoo branded vehicles until 2015.^[7] Some models based on these are still sold as Chevrolets.

GM Uzbekistan began production on 27 November 2008. The first assembled car on this day was aChevrolet Lacetti which also was the 1,000,000th assembled vehicle out of the production from UzAvtosanoat. Chevrolet manufactured theChevrolet Spark M300 in Asaka, a model for now intended only for export. The models are assembled asknock-down kits.

"GM Uzbekistan" logo before the renaming in 2019

Following an agreement in 2008, "GM Powertrain Uzbekistan" opened an engine plant inTashkent, 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) from GM Uzbekistan's vehicle manufacturing facility in Asaka, in November 2011. The factory is GM's first engine plant in Uzbekistan and has a production capacity of 225,000 1.2L and 1.5LDaewoo S-TEC engines per year for use in GM small passenger cars worldwide.^[8]

Another plant produced 200,000 units of front- rear- and side windows for the vehicles of the Uz-DaewooAvto and the Chevrolet Lacetti.^[9] A third production facility was opened in 2014 inPitnak,Khorezm Region, manufacturing theDamas/Labo microvans and theChevrolet Orlando minivan.^[10]

In 2010, about 5,000 people were employed at the GM Uzbekistan assembly plant. GM Uzbekistan sold 121,584 vehicles locally in 2011, making the country the eighth-largest market for Chevrolet and produced more than 225,000 vehicles. Its products are also exported toRussia and otherCIS countries.^[11]

"GM Uzbekistan" plant pictured in 2014

In 2012, theChevrolet Malibu and theChevrolet Cobalt were added to the production line,^[4]^[12] followed by the revisedDaewoo Gentra model in 2013,^[13] theChevrolet Orlando in 2014,^[14] and theChevrolet Nexia T250 in 2015.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, theGovernment of Uzbekistan acquired the company and renamed it "UzAuto Motors".^[15]

In 2020, UzAuto began importing the Chevrolet Equinox, Trailblazer, Traverse, and Tahoe SUVs, with intent to produce them locally if there is sufficient demand.^[16] UzAuto phased out the Ravon brand in 2020, merging it back into the Chevrolet brand as the Chevrolet Spark (R2), Nexia (R3), Cobalt (R4), and Lacetti (R5/Gentra).^[17]

In April 2021, the company announced plans to produce Chevrolet-branded vehicles for the Russian market.^[18]

In August 2021, Swedish entrepreneurBo Andersson was namedchief executive officer of the company.^[19]

Since 2022, the company ceased exports to Russian and Belarus markets due to international sanctions.^[20] Ukrainian exports were temporarily stopped due to logistical limitations.

In October 2022, the company announced its intention to IPO on the domestic market.^[21] In late November the company announced its pricing. Ths IPO will be one of three "People's IPOs" planned by the government in the next couple of years.^[22] In 2022, Fitch Ratings upgraded the company's rating to "BB-, Outlook Stable".^[23] The company created monopoly in the country, as a result locals do not have many choices other than buying its cars with higher price. That's also because of high custom tariffs when individuals import foreign brand cars into Uzbekistan.