AVTOVAZ Production Dropped by 8.4% in 2002

AVTOVAZ car manufacturers (Tolyati, Russia) produced 702 966 cars in 2002, 8.4% less year-on-year. As a Rosbalt correspondent was informed by the AVTOVAZ press office, 96.7 thousand of these cars were exported (a 13% increase year-on-year). In 2002 AVTOVAZ produced 215 016 cars of the tenth model, 206 661 Samara and Samara-2 cars, 199 487 "classical" models, and 65 261 Nivas VAZ-21213 and VAZ-21214. In the experimental industrial section of the company, 1623 models of diesel VAZ-21045s were produced in 2002. Last year this section also completed testing on the minivan VAZ-2120 Nadezhda.

AVTOVAZ had planned to produce 770 thousand cars in 2002 but as a result of an overproduction crisis the company reduced its initial target. In 2003 the company is expecting to produce 690 thousand cars, 90 thousand of which will be exported. In 2001 767.3 thousand cars were produced which was an 8.8% increase year-on-year.

AVTOVAZ is one of the leading car producers in Russia and was founded in 1970. The company's authorized capital stock is USD 52.3 million and consists of 27,194,624 ordinary shares and 4,930,340 preference shares worth about USD 15.7 each. Leading shareholders are All-Russian Car Alliance with 32.35% and Central Department of the Financial Automobile Corporation with 19.86%. In 2001, the AVTOVAZ output totaled USD 2.7 billion.

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