CJSC Severstal Avto Isuzu (SAI), a company jointly established by Isuzu Motors Limited (Isuzu), OJSC Severstal Avto (SSA), and Sojitz Corporation (Sojitz), held the opening ceremony of a new plant at Elabuga on April 6, 2008. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Susumu Hosoi, President of Isuzu, Mr. Vadim Shvetsov, President of SSA, and Mr. Kazunori Teraoka, Senior Managing Executive Officer of Sojitz.

SAI had been preparing to relocate its truck production (semi knock-down) facility at OJSC Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (UZA), an affiliate of SSA, to this new plant in Elabuga. The opening ceremony was to mark the start of production at the Elabuga plant. It is expected that a full-scale production will begin in August, this year.

The purpose of the relocation of the production site is to meet a future expansion in production and sales in the Russian market, as the sale of Isuzu vehicles, since its start in July last year, has been steadily increasing and is expected to see a substantial growth in the future.

In his congratulatory address of the opening ceremony, Susumu Hosoi, President of Isuzu, expressed his determinations to make every possible effort to give full support for further strengthening collaborative relations with SSA and Sojitz, its business partners, successfully operating the New Plant, and improving product quality.

The New Plant is initially expected to build 25,000 units of vehicles on an annual basis. With an increasing demand expected for trucks in Russia, the annual production and sales volume is projected to increase further in future.

Source: Isuzu Motors Limited

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