American car giant General Motors (GM) plans to almost double output at its Russian plant in St Petersburg to 98,000 vehicles next year, Romuald Rytwinski, General Motors Auto CEO, said on Wednesday.
GM plans to produce about 64,000 cars in 2011, Rytwinski said.
"We plan to more than double output in 2011. In 2011, we plan to introduce a third shift and increase production capacities," Rytwinski told a business conference.
Chevrolet Cruze vehicles account for about 60 percent of the St Petersburg plant's output. Opel Antara's share amounts to 30 percent, while about 10 percent of its production is Chevrolet Captiva cars.
The Cruze is one of the vehicles included in the state-supported "cash for clunkers" scheme, in which buyers get a rebate for scrapping an old car and buying a new one made in Russia.
The St Petersburg plant started production in 2009. The company plans to launch the production of Cruze hatchback variants this winter, Rytwinski said.
The Russian car market, which grew 77 percent in the first two months of this year, will expand by about a quarter in 2011 on the back of rebounding economic growth, lower interest rates for car loans and the government's support for buyers and producers.
ST PETERSBURG, June 1 (RIA Novosti)
