Mexican Media Brands
GM to Hire 1,500 Workers in Russia
General Motors Co. says it will boost the workforce at its assembly plant in St.
Share
General Motors Co. says it will boost the workforce at its assembly plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, to 4,000 employees in 2015 from 2,500 now as the company increases output there.
GM broke ground on Friday for a previously announced expansion of the facility that will increase annual capacity to 230,000 vehicles from 98,000 units now. The factory makes the Chevrolet Cruze and Opel Astra compact cars.
The company also is raising output at its joint venture with OAO AvtoVAZ in Togliatti, Russia. The combined actions will hike GM's Russian capacity to 350,000 vehicles by 2015. Russia has agreed to waive duties on imported parts for foreign carmakers that pledge to produce at least 300,000 vehicles per year there by 2015.
GM will introduce seven new models from Chevrolet and Cadillac and five from Opel there this year. CEO Dan Akerson tells Bloomberg News that GM's ailing Opel unit makes money in Russia. He notes that boosting Opel sales there would help offset the unit's losses in western Europe.
GM increased its sales in Russia 53% to 244,000 units in 2011 and aims to sell 300,000 units this year.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Fuel Cells, Battery Enclosures, and Lucid Air
A skateboard for fuel cells, building a better battery enclosure, what ADAS does, a big engine for boats, the curious case of lean production, what drivers think, and why Lucid is remarkable
-
On Zeekr, the Price of EVs, and Lighting Design
About Zeekr, failure, the price of EVs, lighting design, and the exceedingly attractive Karma
-
Jeeps Modified for Moab
On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.
