The partner of General Motors and Renault plans to extend the brand's influence in the region of Central Asia that is expected to grow into one of the world’s largest auto markets over the next five years.
The new plant is expected to be built in cooperation with local company Asia Auto and will have an annual production capacity of 120,000 cars. AvtoVAZ and Asia Auto officials target a localization rate of 70% by 2015.
The plant will focus on production of the next generation of Lada cars, as well as two models built on Renault-Nissan global platforms. The facility will be located in the East Kazakhstan region of the country.
The first stage of production scheduled for 2015, the plant will reach 90,000 cars per year, with another 30,000 cars per year to be added in the second phase in 2017. Output from the new Kazakh plant is expected to be sold in the markets of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East region of Russia.
Along with AvtoVAZ, Asia Auto already is assembling cars from such foreign brands as Skoda (Octavia, Superb, Yeti), Chevrolet (Captiva, Epica, Lacetti, Cruze, Aveo) and Kia (Sorento, Mohave, Cerato, Sportage).
