- Russian carmaker Avtotor plans to invest more than $80 million to launch production of General Motors' Opel Antara and Chevrolet Captiva utility vehicles at its plant in the Kaliningrad region.
- Production launch is scheduled for February 2012.
- Avtotor, a longtime Russian affiliate of GM, also plans to launch an updated version of the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact.
MOSCOW — Russian carmaker Avtotor plans to invest more than $80 million to launch production of General Motors' Opel Antara and Chevrolet Captiva utility vehicles at its plant in the Kaliningrad region.
Production launch is scheduled for February 2012. In addition, the company, a longtime Russian affiliate of GM, also plans to launch an updated version of the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact.
Local assembly of the Antara and Captiva in Russia should help boost their popularity in the market. At present, both GM models trail such Asian competitors in the segment as Nissan X-Trail, Toyota RAV4 and Suzuki Grand Vitara.
Assembly of the new-generation Aveo will probably not result in the suspension of production of the older version, which remains quite popular in Russia. The current Aveo has been a strong competitor to the segment leader, the relatively new Hyundai Solaris, which has been on the market for only six months.
Inside Line says: GM believes local assembly of the Captiva and Antara will make them more affordable for Russian consumers.
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