Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In 2020, UzAuto Motors broke its historical production record by producing more than 280,000 vehicles, thereby achieving free sale of all models. But the pandemic and the global microchip crisis have taken their toll, lowering 2021 production volumes, leaving more than 89,300 vehicles in debt to buyers as of early 2022.

On 15 February, at a meeting chaired by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, dedicated to the issues of the automotive industry, a number of important decisions were made. In particular, the head of state instructed to fully deal with the problems of queues for the purchase of cars by 1 May 2022.

Of course, the company is making every effort to saturate the market with the necessary volume of cars - the plant operates at full capacity and more than 1,000 cars roll off the conveyors of enterprises every day.

To increase production volumes in March-April, 656 tons of components for an additional 4,200 vehicles were delivered via air links. In agreement with Uzbekistan Airways JSC, charter flights were also organized to deliver the most critical auto components.

Pre-established reserves of components containing microchips have avoided long-term declines in production. To solve the problems of cargo transportation, the issues of prioritization of UzAuto Motors cargo transportation were resolved at the government level. Optimization of supply chains has reduced the delivery time of components from the Republic of Korea from 45 to 38 days, and the transfer of supplies from China from rail to road transportation has reduced transit from 55 to 20 days.

These and other unprecedented measures ensured the maximum supply of automotive components, which in turn ensured the uninterrupted operation of the plant. Negotiations with GM International President Steven Kiefer and a number of microchip manufacturers allowed for additional supplies of semiconductors and production of more cars than was predicted during the crisis - the volume of supplied kits was increased from 14,000 to 20,000.

Negotiations with partners also resulted in an increase in the supply of imported Lacetti car components from 6,000 to 8,000 car kits, and for Damas cars from 6,000 to 8,000. Also, agreements were reached with more than 30 suppliers of scarce components, allowing to increase production volumes.

As a result of the modernization of production equipment and optimization of technological processes, the production capacities of UzAuto Motors were also significantly increased. In particular, by optimizing the processes at the welding line for Lacetti cars, the daily output increased by 28%. Due to the improvement and robotization of technological processes in the production of Cobalt cars, the daily production capacity of this model was increased by 22.5%. In addition, as a result of the improvement of the paint shop, by expanding the drying oven and improving the processing of the lower protective layer of the body, it was possible to increase production by 15%. As a result, the production of Lacetti/Cobalt/Spark cars at the Asaka plant amounted to 19,200 per month, and at the Khorezm plant up to 9,000 Damas/Labo cars per month.

In addition, in order to reduce the delivery time to car owners, UzAuto Motors plans to launch the production of a new configuration of the Cobalt car, which will also be delivered to customers from May this year.

Achieving the previous pre-pandemic level of production to date has already made it possible to transfer to consumers 92% of the total number of cars contracted at the beginning of the year (more than 82,300 cars) several months ahead of the deadline stated in the contract. More than 2,700 vehicles already produced are on their way to consumers, and the remaining 4,300 units are in production, which will ensure that the order is completed by 30 April. In total, from the beginning of 2022 to the present, more than 104,000 cars (including the premium segment) have been handed over to owners, which is more than 1/3 of the total production volume of the automobile plant.

The resumption of contracting in March this year with a reduced down payment from 85% to 50%, as well as the stability of the cost of cars and their availability, made them a profitable investment and led to a sharp increase in demand. The high activity of persons purchasing cars for the purpose of resale forced the company to include in the terms of the contract the right to defer the delivery of cars to such customers for an additional 4 months, which led to a significant reduction in orders for potential resale.

A significant contribution to the abnormal growth in demand for cars is largely due to a significant decrease in the cost of domestic cars in dollar terms, which is why a number of buyers are considering purchasing driving a car as a financial instrument. At the same time, on behalf of the Head of State, since February of this year, customs rates for the import of imported cars have been more than halved. The liberalization of the car market, as well as the presence of a wide range of competitors in the domestic market, did not reduce the popularity of Chevrolet cars: if in March-April 2021 about 33,400 contracts were concluded for the purchase of a car, this year this figure has already amounted to about 82,000 (growth rate in 2.4 times).

All the measures taken by the company in the context of global and geopolitical crises in a complex made it possible to close obligations to customers in a timely manner and create a “reserve” - at the moment there are about 2,000 cars in stock at dealerships, including more than 1,000 Nexia cars.