OREANDA-NEWS. November 21, 2011. General Motors and its local joint venture partner UzAvtosanoat today opened a new state-of-the-art engine plant in Tashkent, 400 kilometers from the automakers’ vehicle manufacturing facility in Asaka, It represents GM’s most significant powertrain investment in Central Asia.

GM has a 52% stake in GM Powertrain Uzbekistan and its partner has a 48-percent stake. The facility, which covers 40 hectares, is GM’s first engine plant in Uzbekistan. It will produce more than 225,000 new fuel-efficient Ecotec 1.2L and 1.5L engines for use in GM small passenger cars sold around the world.

The first engines produced at the plant starting this month will be installed in the Chevrolet Spark mini car that commands 94% share of the Uzbekistan domestic market and is exported to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The plant features a lean manufacturing footprint and has adopted GM’s advanced global manufacturing processes and technology. It is one of only a few GM powertrain plants in the world with co-located assembly and foundry facilities and will be Central Asia’s only manufacturing plant capable of producing finished machined components such as cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and crankshafts.

GM International Operations Vice President of Manufacturing and Labor John Buttermore and GM Korea President and CEO Mike Arcamone were joined by Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister and UzAvtosanoat Chairman Ulugbek Rozukulov for the inauguration of the new plant. GM Powertrain Uzbekistan employees, contractors, and suppliers were also present.

“GM is committed to growing our manufacturing footprint throughout Central Asia,” said Buttermore. “Through our strong partnership with the Uzbekistan government and UzAvtosanoat, this engine plant will enable us to deliver on our promise of providing a broader range of small, fuel-efficient engines to our customers around the world.

“Producing engines locally strengthens our commitment to the development of a strong local automotive industry, which can help guide the economic growth of the entire Central Asian region,” Buttermore said. “It is also a sign of the emerging talent in the Uzbek industry and our faith in its capability.”

The new facility, which will employ up to 1,200 people, has adopted cutting-edge computer equipment to enhance precision and ensure high build quality and the flexibility to switch between production of engine variants in line with changing market demand.

GM has also employed advanced environmental-protection processes throughout the facility, including the most modern wastewater treatment technology in Uzbekistan with the purest discharge of any facility of its kind within GM. A final reverse osmosis treatment system ensures water leaving the plant will be as clean as drinking water.

The Uzbekistan plant joins facilities in China and Korea as a producer of GM’s new Ecotec 1.2L and 1.5L engines. Both engines use a cast-iron block and aluminum head, with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. They are both Euro V emissions compliant.

The engine facility is the second manufacturing joint venture between GM and UzAvtosanoat. GM Uzbekistan, located in Asaka, was established in March 2008 by the two companies. GM holds a 25% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 75% held by UzAvtosanoat.

GM Uzbekistan employs approximately 6,600 people and produces more than 200,000 Chevrolet passenger vehicles annually for domestic sale and export to neighboring markets such as Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Several of the new engine plant’s employees graduated from Torino Polytechnic University and three colleges in Tashkent, with which GM has partnered to help develop technical and managerial skills for the nation’s automotive industry.

GM’s work with these educational institutions has been recognized by the U.S. Department of State as a finalist for its annual Award for Corporate Excellence in 2011.