Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant began production of pickup trucks

The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, part of the SOLLERS automobile holding, announced the start of mass production of the new UAZ Pickup car. Automakers believe that new products will be in great demand, since they have no domestic competitors, and in comparison with foreign ones, the Ulyanovsk pickup truck has price advantages and a sufficient level of quality. Experts confirm that with the release of small quantities of UAZ Pickup to the market, demand will be ensured, but they note that the pickup truck market in Russia is poorly developed. The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant has started producing a new model - UAZ Pickup, the Sollers press service reported. This is a new segment of the automotive market for UAZ. The plant will begin production of UAZ Pickup with an engine with a displacement of 2.7 liters (128 hp), a load capacity of 800 kg and a capacity of 5 people.
The retail price for UAZ Pickup starts at 415 thousand rubles. for the basic Classic configuration and amounts to 475 thousand rubles. for the version with maximum Comfort equipment.
The UAZ Pickup is assembled on the same assembly line where the UAZ Patriot is assembled. This year it is planned to produce 800 cars, next year - three times more.
Natalya Proskurina, PR manager at Sollers, explained to Kommersant that “the pickup truck market is very dynamic, and, according to the company, over the 8 months of this year, compared to the same period last year, the demand for pickup trucks has grown by 120%.” “Therefore, we have every reason to believe that this should be a completely successful entry into the market,” said Ms. Proskurina. According to her, the car is primarily aimed at people seeking active recreation, and the cargo body is ready to transport any sports equipment: snowmobiles, snowboards, bicycles and motorcycles, tents, kayaks and boats. Also, the cargo compartment with a tailgate that folds down flush with the floor is convenient for transporting any large-sized cargo needed for repairs and suburban construction. “We expect that this vehicle will be of interest to small businesses and farms; it is convenient for various emergency repair services,” added Natalya Proskurina. In Russia, according to Mrs. Proskurina, there are no competitors, and therefore there will be sufficient demand. “Russian companies do not produce such cars, and we differ very favorably from Western ones in price,” she said. “The exception is Chinese models, but the quality there leaves much to be desired.”
OJSC Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant produced over 72 thousand vehicles in 2007, of which 40 thousand were the old cargo series, 32 thousand were the passenger series, including 12 thousand UAZ Patriot. UAZ export sales remained at the 2006 level and amounted to 12,276 vehicles. Shareholders, according to SPARK-Interfax, are Severstal-Auto (Sollers company) - 66.07%, Rosimushchestvo (13.19%), Lindsell Enterprises Limited (11.2%). UAZ's net profit in 2007 was 1.345 billion rubles.
It is characteristic that the launch of UAZ OJSC to a new model occurs against the backdrop of statements by well-known companies about reducing the production of pickup trucks. Thus, the management of the German concern Volkswagen decided to close the program for the production of pickup trucks for the American and European markets; the concern's analysts considered it unprofitable to sell the VW Robust pickup truck due to rising world fuel prices and declining demand for large vehicles. For the same reasons, General Motors has announced its intentions to reduce production of cars in this segment in the near future.
“The pick-up market in Russia is poorly developed,” says Evgenia Talalaeva, an analyst at IFC SOLID. - In fact, it is represented by four imported models - Mitsubishi L200, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara and Ford Ranger. Despite the fact that our pickup truck market shows significant growth year after year, its capacity is still quite small. Thus, in the first half of 2008, about 10,000 pickup trucks were sold in Russia; we can assume that the market capacity is approximately 20 thousand pickup trucks, i.e., approximately the same number were sold in six months as in the USA in a day.”
“The market share of pickup trucks among passenger cars in Russia is small, it is 0.6%, while at the same time, UAZ has virtually no competitors,” said Troika-Dialog IC analyst Gennady Sukhanov. — In any case, the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant does not have very big plans for production, and what will be released onto the market is quite enough to occupy a niche and maintain high demand. If this were a completely new model, one might still doubt the advisability of launching it, but since the pickup truck is made on the basis of an existing model, this will not bring any special costs, and why not try to sell more UAZs. Everything is quite logical.”
Sergey Titov,
Ulyanovsk

Kommersant (Samara) No. 178 dated 10/02/2008

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