Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s only manufacturer of a comprehensive range of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The country’s automotive industry, with its 85+ affiliated plants, has more than 200 partners abroad and employs over 24,000 people.
Established in 1993 by decree of the country’s first president, Islam Karimov, Uzavtosanoat is Uzbekistan’s national holding company that unites the republic’s leading automobile assembly companies and local component makers.
In 2017, Uzavtosanoat plants turned out more than 140,600 cars versus 93,000 in 2016.
GM Uzbekistan – a joint venture of Uzavtosanoat (75%) and GM (25%) founded in 2008. The company produces over 250,000 Ravon- and Chevrolet-badged cars and mini trucks a year. Model range: Damas, Labo, Matiz, Spark, Nexia, Cobalt, Lacetti/Gentra, Captiva, Malibu, Orlando.
Asaka Automobile Plant
(Ravon Matiz, Ravon Gentra, Ravon Nexia, Ravon R2, Ravon R4)
Tashkent Automobile Plant
(Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Malibu 2, Chevrolet Captiva)
Khorezm Automobile Plant
(Chevrolet Damas, Chevrolet Labo, Chevrolet Orlando)
Total headcount: 11,000
The Samarkand-based SamAuto commercial vehicle maker produces buses and trucks under the SAZ and Isuzu brands. The company is a joint venture founded in 1999 by Uzavtosanoat (58%) and Asaka Bank (26%) (Uzbekistan), Itochu Corporation (8%), and Isuzu Motors (8%) (Japan). Production capacity: 4,000 units a year. Headcount: 980
JV MAN Auto Uzbekistan is a joint venture of Uzavtosanoat (51%) and German MAN Truck&Bus founded in 2009. The company manufactures, sells domestically, exports, and offers aftersales support for MAN equipment – trucks and chassis with a gross weight of over 16 tons, truck tractors, dump trucks, trailers, truck cranes, and specialized vehicles. Production capacity: 4,000 units a year.
Headcount: over 300.
RAVON IS An CAR BRAND MANUFACTURED BY GM UZBEKISTAN, A UZBEK AUTOMOTIVE COMPANY FOUNDED IN 2015. THE BRAND IS ACRONYM FOR RELIABLE ACTIVE VEHICLE ON ROAD. ITS LOGO DEPICTS THE WINGED HELMET OF MERCURY, THE GOD OF TRAVELERS IN ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. RAVON IS REPRESENTED BY A RANGE OF BUDGET PASSENGER CARS, INCLUDING CITY CARS, HATCHBACKS, AND SEDANS.
1992
Daewoo (South Korea) and Uzavtosanoat (Uzbekistan) signed a joint venture agreement to set up Uz-Daewoo Auto and build an automotive industry in Uzbekistan from the ground up.
1999
A new plant was launched and began producing three Daewoo models – Nexia, Damas, and Tico.
2001
Daewoo Matiz production started.
2002
The American companyGeneral Motors bought a controlling stake in Daewoo Motors and used its assets to establish GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology (GM DAT).
2005
Uz Daewoo bought out the Korean company’s participatory interest in the Uzbek joint venture, along with licenses to build the partner’s models Nexia, Matiz and Damas.
2008
The upgraded Nexia-2 entered production; Uz Daewoo Auto and General Motors set up a new joint venture, GM Uzbekistan; full-scale production and SKD assembly of modern Uz-Daewoo and Chevrolet models began.
2013-2015
Daewoo Gentra model was produced and Ravon, an export-oriented brand, was created. The brand’s name stands for Reliable Active Vehicle for ON-road; Ravon is also Uzbek for “well-lit, clean, smooth, and straight road” or “an easy path”.
2016
Uzbekistan-based production under the Daewoo brand stopped completely; four Ravon-badged models were produced: R2, Nexia, R4, and Gentra. Ravon cars began to be exported to other CIS countries, including Russia and Uzbekistan, and to the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Ghana, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia, and Nigeria.
2017
Export infrastructure was expanded; 12,978 Ravon cars were sold in the 11 months of last year through more than 80 dealerships in Russia. Plans for 2018–2019 include launching a new C-segment sedan and a B-segment urban crossover on the Russian market.
