GM-Avtovaz sends employees to New Year vacation.

SAMARA, the Volga region, December 29 (Itar-Tass) - The GM-Avtovaz
automobile maker in Togliatti, the Volga region, will send its employees
to a New Year holiday on Monday.

"The vacation will last from December 29 until January 10,
inclusively. Prevention and repair works will be carried out at the plant
when the production line stops. The plant will resume its normal operation
on January 1", the GM-Avtovaz press service told Itar-Tass.
GM-Avtovaz is a joint venture set up by Russian Avtovaz, American
General Motors and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
It began operation on September 23, 2002. In 2008, the plant produced
54,654 cars of which 53,305 were sold.
At the moment, GM-Avtovaz manufactures Chevrolet Niva crossovers. In
the first nine months of 2009 the joint venture has produced 14, 917
vehicles. The plant has switched over to the production of ecologically
clean Euro-4 cars in December.
The Chevrolet Niva off-road vehicles that have been produced since
November 2007 meet Euro-3 standards.
In the meantime, a new car assembly production is to be launched in
Vladivostok on Tuesday in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin.
The Sollers-Far East plant will produce Korean Ssang Yong off-road
trucks, Japanese Isuzu trucks as well as special Fiat Ducato vehicles
designed for the needs of social infrastructure of the far eastern region.
"In addition to that, the new plant will assemble special
modifications of UAZ off road cars," the government press service went on
to say. They added that the plant would annually produce 15,000 vehicles
in 2010, and the production was to reach 40,000 vehicles by 2015.
A Sollers company source said that the project would be implemented in
three stages. The production of the Ssang Yong and UAZ off-road vehicles
will begin in the end of 2009. The Isuzu trucks and Fiat Ducato vehicles
will be assembled at the second stage. A full production cycle, including
the welding and painting of cars, will be launched in the second half of
2012.
A new Ssang Yong crossover designed jointly by Ssang Yong and Sollers
experts will be produced in the end of 2010.
The Sollers-Far East plant also plans to launch the production of
Mitsubishi light cars and all-wheel drive heavy trucks that will be in
demand in extracting industries, the wood industry and construction
business.
The Sollers company says that the new production will help it create
700 new jobs in 2010 and more than 2,000 jobs in 2012 when full production
cycle is launched.
All the spare parts will be locally produced in the Primorye region,
and additional development of the production of superstructures for truck
chassis will create another 1,000 new jobs, the Sollers press service went
on to say.
A total of five billion roubles will be invested in the project. The
plant will be located in the spare premises of a far eastern ship repairs
plant in the city of Vladivostok. Russia's Vneshekonombank will issue a
special-purpose credit to finance the project.
The administration of the Primorye region believes the car assembly
production to be an effective strategy that will help Russian automakers
to enter the far eastern region where ninety percent of the market is
taken by second-hand right-hand drive foreign brands.