It was formerly partly owned by General Motors and, in 2019, it was acquired by the Uzbekistan Government and renamed "UzAuto Motors". By February 2023, the company completed an IPO on the Tashkent Stock Exchange.[2]
History
Uzbek stamps of the Daewoo Matiz and Nexia models
The company was founded in 1992 between the Uzbek state-owned UzAvtosanoat and the South Korea-based Daewoo, and was initially known as "Uz-DaewooAuto" (Uzbek: O'z-DeuAvto).[3] The company began production of vehicles on 19 July 1996, at the new assembly plant in Asaka.[3]
Uz-DaewooAuto produced vehicles under the brand name Uz-Daewoo.[3] The initiative to establish the Uzbek automobile industry goes back to the early 1990s and the administration of President of UzbekistanIslam Karimov.[4]
Following Daewoo's collapse in 2001, and resulting change of ownership, "GM Uzbekistan" was eventually established in March 2008 as a new replacement joint venture, and the Nexia and Matiz were sold under the Chevrolet badge together with an extended range of GM Korea Chevrolet models produced at the Asaka factory.
Daewoo was acquired by General Motors and became GM Daewoo. Subsequently, the facility was renamed "GM Uzbekistan" in 2008. The joint venture was owned by UzAvtosanoat JSC (75%) and General Motors (25%).[5] GM Uzbekistan produced 106,334 units during the first half of 2011.[6]
Given the change in name and ownership, the model range changed, although the company continued producing Uz-Daewoo branded vehicles until 2015.[7] Some models based on these are still sold as Chevrolets.
GM Uzbekistan began production on 27 November 2008. The first assembled car on this day was a Chevrolet Lacetti which also was the 1,000,000th assembled vehicle out of the production from UzAvtosanoat. Chevrolet manufactured the Chevrolet Spark M300 in Asaka, a model for now intended only for export. The models are assembled as knock-down kits.
"GM Uzbekistan" logo before the renaming in 2019
Following an agreement in 2008, "GM Powertrain Uzbekistan" opened an engine plant in Tashkent, 400 kilometres (248.5mi) from GM Uzbekistan's vehicle manufacturing facility in Asaka, in November 2011. The factory is GM's first engine plant in Uzbekistan and has a production capacity of 225,000 1.2L and 1.5L Daewoo S-TEC engines per year for use in GM small passenger cars worldwide.[8]
Another plant produced 200,000 units of front- rear- and side windows for the vehicles of the Uz-DaewooAvto and the Chevrolet Lacetti.[9] A third production facility was opened in 2014 in Pitnak, Khorezm Region, manufacturing the Damas/Labo microvans and the Chevrolet Orlando minivan.[10]
In 2010, about 5,000 people were employed at the GM Uzbekistan assembly plant. GM Uzbekistan sold 121,584 vehicles locally in 2011, making the country the eighth-largest market for Chevrolet and produced more than 225,000 vehicles. Its products are also exported to Russia and other CIS countries.[11]
In 2020, UzAuto began importing the Chevrolet Equinox, Trailblazer, Traverse, and Tahoe SUVs, with intent to produce them locally if there is sufficient demand.[16] UzAuto phased out the Ravon brand in 2020, merging it back into the Chevrolet brand as the Chevrolet Spark (R2), Nexia (R3), Cobalt (R4), and Lacetti (R5/Gentra).[17]
In April 2021, the company announced plans to produce Chevrolet-branded vehicles for the Russian market.[18]
Since 2022, the company ceased exports to Russian and Belarus markets due to international sanctions.[20] Ukrainian exports were temporarily stopped due to logistical limitations.
In October 2022, the company announced its intention to IPO on the domestic market.[21] In late November the company announced its pricing. Ths IPO will be one of three "People's IPOs" planned by the government in the next couple of years.[22] In 2022, Fitch Ratings upgraded the company's rating to "BB-, Outlook Stable".[23] The company created monopoly in the country, as a result locals do not have many choices other than buying its cars with higher price. That's also because of high custom tariffs when individuals import foreign brand cars into Uzbekistan.
Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy, is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM).
Daewoo also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol and automobile manufacturer.
GM Korea Company is the South Korean subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors and the third largest automobile manufacturer in South Korea. GM Korea's roots go back to the former Daewoo Motors vehicle brand, which was split from its parent company, Daewoo, in 2002. In addition to importing vehicles for sale into South Korea, the company also operates three manufacturing facilities producing vehicles for the domestic market and for export. The company also operates GM Technical Center Korea, a design, engineering, research & development facility for various GM products, primarily small-size cars.
SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited is a joint venture between General Motors Company and SAIC Motor. The company was founded in 1997 as Shanghai General Motors Company Ltd or Shanghai GM. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company manufactures and sells Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brand automobiles in Mainland China, and exports its cars to several overseas markets.
Daewoo Motors was a South Korean automotive company established in 1937 as "National Motors". The company changed its name several times until 1982 when it became "Daewoo Motors" following its acquisition by the Daewoo Group. After running into financial difficulties, it sold most of its assets in 2002 to General Motors at $1.2 billion, becoming a subsidiary of the American company. In 2011, the name "Daewoo" was definitively removed with the company being renamed GM Korea and the Daewoo brand replaced by the Chevrolet marque.
Gamma is General Motors' global subcompact front-wheel drive automobile platform, first used in the 2000 Opel Corsa C.
Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych, commonly known as FSO, is a Polish automobile parts manufacturer, and formerly an automobile producer of historic significance, located in Warsaw.
S-TEC or M-TEC is a low-displacement engine range co-developed by Suzuki and Daewoo Motors for use in micro and subcompact cars. The original version was a license-built version of the Suzuki F8B engine; later generations were derived from the original design in South Korea.
The Daewoo LeMans is a compact car, first manufactured by Daewoo in South Korea between 1986 and 1994, and between 1994 and 1997 as Daewoo Cielo — a car mechanically identical to the LeMans, differentiated only by its modified styling cues. Like all Daewoos preceding it, the LeMans took its underpinnings from a European Opel design. In the case of the LeMans, the GM T platform-based Opel Kadett E was the donor vehicle, essentially just badge engineered into the form of the LeMans, and later as the Cielo after a second more thorough facelift.
The Chevrolet Spark is a city car manufactured by General Motors's subsidiary GM Korea from 1998 to 2022. The vehicle was developed by Daewoo and introduced in 1998 as the Daewoo Matiz. In 2002, General Motors purchased Daewoo Motors, which was marketing the vehicle with several GM marques and nameplates.
The Daewoo Lacetti is a compact car manufactured and marketed globally by GM Korea since 2002. The first-generation Lacetti was available as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon, styled by Pininfarina—and five-door hatchback styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The sedan and wagon were marketed as the Daewoo Nubira in some European markets and as the Suzuki Forenza in North America. The hatchback, was introduced in 2004 and marketed as Daewoo Lacetti5 in South Korea, Suzuki Reno in the United States. After the 2004 model year, it was marketed as Chevrolet Nubira and Lacetti in Europe, as the Chevrolet Optra in Canada, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, India, Japan and Southeast Asia, and as the Holden Viva in Australia and New Zealand.
The Daewoo Gentra is an automotive nameplate used by the South Korean automobile brand Daewoo. The marque has utilized the "Gentra" name on two different vehicles—a subcompact model sold in South Korea between 2005 and 2011—and a compact car offered in Uzbekistan by Uz-Daewoo Auto since 2013. The Uzbekistani car was renamed Ravon Gentra in 2015.
The Daewoo Tosca is a mid-size car designed by Daewoo in South Korea and marketed by Chevrolet as the Chevrolet Epica and Chevrolet Tosca, while Holden marketed it as the Holden Epica. Codenamed V250, it replaces the Daewoo Magnus and its derivatives. The Chevrolet Epica was officially launched in Europe at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. The Tosca is noteworthy in that it is available with transversely-mounted straight-six engines. Contrary to the preceding models, which were styled by Giugiaro, the V250 was designed entirely in-house.
Asaka is a city and the administrative center of Asaka District in eastern Uzbekistan, located in the southeastern edge of the Fergana Valley near Uzbekistan's border with Kyrgyzstan.
General Motors New Zealand Limited, formerly Holden New Zealand Limited, is a subsidiary of General Motors that distributes GM' motor vehicles, engines, components and parts in New Zealand.
Chevrolet Europe GmbH was a subsidiary company of GM Korea, founded in 2005, with headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. It provided Chevrolet brand automobiles, most of which were made in South Korea for the European market.
The Chevrolet Aveo is a five-passenger, front-drive subcompact car (B-segment) marketed by General Motors (GM) since 2002 over two generations. Originally developed by South Korean manufacturer Daewoo Motors and marketed as the Daewoo Kalos, the takeover of Daewoo by GM to form GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GMDAT) resulted in the car's marketing in 120 countries under seven brands — prominently as the Chevrolet Aveo.
General Motors Vietnam Company, Ltd. was an automobile manufacturer based in Vietnam and a member of GM Southeast Asia Operations.
Before 1992, Uzbekistan had no automotive industry, being part of the Soviet Union. In post-Soviet times, UzDaewooAuto, SamKochAvto, GM Uzbekistan new auto producing plants were built with South Korean and American help. With production surpassing more than 200,000 per year, Uzbekistan exports automobiles to Russia and other CIS countries.
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