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| GM opens its Russian plant and claims 44% growth | |
6 November 2008 |
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General Motors has opened its Russian car manufacturing plant in a ceremony attended by Russian president Dmitri Medvedev. The plant, at Shushary near St Petersburg, will build 70,000 cars a year from 2009, and has cost $300 million. It has been built in just two years and will employ 1,700 people. GM will use the plant to build the Opel Antara and the Chevrolet Captiva SUVs for the Russian market. The Chevrolet Cruze will be added to the range from Shushary late in 2009. Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, said: "Russia is poised to become Europe's Number One car market for GM as early as 2009. With five strong brands on the market, we are the leading non-Russian manufacturer. That's a position we aim to keep." GM's Russian sales grew by 44 per cent in the first nine months of 2008, reaching 256,765 and outpacing the general market growth of 23 per cent. GM's market share has grown from 6.5 per cent in 2006 to 10.9 per cent so far this year, and Chevrolet is the single largest non-Russian brand in the market.
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