Azerbaijan to boost car production industry

By Azernews

By Rasana Gasimova

Automobile industry has been playing an active role in Azerbaijan’s non-oil industry in recent years.

The country’s automotive production will reach $20 million in 2019 and $70 million by 2022, according to the Market Analysis Azerbaijan 2019.

Azerbaijan produced 1,688 cars over the period of January-September 2019, which is 3.7 times more than the indicator of the same period in 2018, Trend reported, citing the State Statistical Committee. According to the report, the total production of cars, trailers and semi-trailers in Azerbaijan amounted to 74.5 million manats (a 32.2 percent decrease).

About 24,088 cars worth almost 335 million manats ($197 million) have been imported to the country.

Azerbaijan also imported 2,262 trucks worth 36.2 million manats (over $21 million), which is 1.7 times more than in 2018, and 246 buses worth 27.6 million manats (over $16 million), (a 2.5 and 4.7 times increase, respectively).

Note that presently, there are three car manufacturing plants in Azerbaijan, including Khazar plant in Neftchala, Ganja Automobile Plant and a plant in Nakhchivan.

Khazar plant, which has been operating since March, produced over 1,600 cars and plans to produce 3,000 cars in 2019.

The country’s Ganja Automobile Plant is manufacturing trucks of Belarus and Russian companies. It should be noted that Ganja Automobile Plant is the largest assembly plant of Belarus tractors outside the Eurasian Economic Union.

In addition, another plant that opened in Nakhchivan back in 2010, assembles eight models of Lifan passenger cars designed by China’s Lifan Group, which provides all the necessary spare parts for cars to the plant, so they may be assembled in Azerbaijan under the direct supervision of Chinese automotive specialists.