Tag Archives: automobiles

Uzbekistan to export cars to Tajikistan

OCT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shokasym Shoislamov, the Uzbek ambassador to Tajikistan, said the countries are negotiating an agreement to open the Tajik market to Uzbek car exports. Uzbekistan’s largest carmaker, GM Uzbekistan, a JV between US-based GM and the Uzbek government, exports most of its cars to Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Car sales in Kazakhstan, a leading economic indicator, fail to pick up

ALMATY, OCT. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhs bought just under 31,000 cars in the first nine months of the year, a drop of 59% compared to the same period last year.

The car market is a key indicator of Kazakhstan’s economic health and its collapse since an oil price crash in mid-2014 has mirrored the Kazakh economy. In Q1 2014, by comparison, Kazakhs bought 35,000 new cars, easily outstripping total sales for the first nine months of this year.

Analysts have said that consumers are not buying cars because of a 50% cut in the value of the tenge and higher inflation which have made them vastly more expensive.

Putting a positive spin on the news, Oleg Alfyorov, president of Kazavtoprom, the car industry union, said that he thought the market had bottomed-out and that sales would start to rise again soon.

“Kazakhstan’s car market has been in a state of recession since the second half of 2014. But this year, sales have reached a market plateau, from which retailers can start moving upwards,” he said.

Mr Alfyorov also pointed out the increased share of locally produced cars in total sales, which grew to 24%, almost double the share in 2014.

“Quarterly Kazakhs bought about 10,000 new cars. This figure has been stable since the beginning of the year.

At the same time, an increasing number of buyers preferred locally- assembled cars,” he said.

Still, this is a long way from where the industry was a few years ago when foreign car makers were eager to get a foothold in Kazakhstan’s growing manufacturing sector to launch into what they thought would be a lucrative Central Asian market.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

GM Uzbekistan switches to Belarus

OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan said it has discontinued sales of its Ravon Matiz car model in Russia and shifted exports to Belarus. The company did not give a reason for the marketing decision. Uzbekistan and Belarus have improved trade ties. GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture between US-based GM (25%) and state-owned Uzavtoprom (75%), has had to grapple with a corruption scandal involving car sales to Russia in the past few months.

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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Uzbek GM ex-head awaits trial

SEPT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Uzbekistan released on bail former GM Uzbekistan head Tokhirjon Jalilov, who was arrested in April in connection with a fraud scheme around car exports to Russia. Jalilov, who had served as chairman of GM Uzbekistan since 2010, will face trial for embezzlement. State-owned Uzavtoprom owns 75% of GM Uzbekistan, US- based GM owns the rest.

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(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Car imports fall in Azerbaijan

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s customs committee said that car imports in Jan.-Aug. 2016 fell by 6.1% compared to the same period last year. In total, Azerbaijan imported 3,454 vehicles, mostly passenger cars. Over the past three years, car imports have fallen sharply in Azerbaijan, after the manat currency has lost around half its value during two devaluations and the ditching of the US dollar peg.

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(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

GM Uzbekistan appoints new head

JULY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Car manufacturer GM Uzbekistan appointed Rustam Razhabov as the new CEO, after months of uncertainty over the top position at the Uzbek-US joint venture. The government-linked Novosti Uzbekistana confirmed the appointment. In June, unofficial reports had said that Mr Razhabov had been detained in May in relation to a criminal scheme that brought down his predecessor, Tokhirzhon Zhalilov. State-owned Uzavtoprom owns 75% of GM Uzbekistan, US-based GM owns the rest.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Car sales fell in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan

JULY 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s customs agency said that the country imported around 1,300 cars in H1 2016, a drop of 80% compared to the same period last year. Earlier reports said that car imports in Kyrgyzstan have also dropped in H1 2016. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are two of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world and their economies have been hit hard by a recession in Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

 

Car sales drop in Kazakhstan

JULY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s car production shrank by 62.2% to 2,980 units in H1 2016, compared to the same period last year, according to the Statistics Committee. This fall in car sales is an important indicator of the health of the economy and people’s expectations as to where it is heading.

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(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

 

Car sales drop in Uzbekistan

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — US-Uzbek joint venture GM Uzbekistan sold 34.5% fewer cars in the Russian market in June 2016, compared to the same month last year, a sign of continued market weakness and possibly of rumoured management problems. GM Uzbekistan’s exports to Russia are down 17% in H1 2016, compared to a drop of 14% for total car sales in Russia. This year, GM Uzbekistan’s director was arrested for allegedly creating an illegal sale scheme for cars earmarked for export.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

GM- Uzbekistan woes worsen

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Rustam Radjabov, the new director of the GM-Uzbekistan joint venture, was detained by police and held in jail since the end of May on embezzlement charges, RFE/RL reported quoting sources in the company. Mr Radjabov replaced Tokhirjon Jalilov who was arrested in April for masterminding a criminal scheme over car exports to Russia. The Uzbek authorities have not confirmed the arrest. The anonymous source also said operations at the GM Uzbekistan plant are “practically suspended.” GM Uzbekistan is one of the country’s most important factories.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)