GAZ Group, which exports cars to 35 countries, presented its new D class vehicle based on the Chrysler platform, acquired by the Russian company in April 2006, at the Interavto international exhibition in Moscow.
GAZ Group will produce a pilot batch of Siber cars at its facility in Nizhny Novgorod this year, said Leonid Dolgov, director of the company's car division.
Siber car production will reach 20,000 vehicles in 2008 and there are plans to bring their output up to 65,000 cars a year by 2010, Dolgov said.
GAZ Group will also start production of British Maxus light trucks, currently produced by the LDV plant in Birmingham, England, at its Nizhny Novgorod facility in early 2009, Dolgov said.
GAZ acquired a 100% stake in LDV, a British van manufacturer, in July 2006. The shares were bought from Sun Capital, a U.S. fund. LDV, formerly Leyland DAF Vans Limited, produces about 15,000 vehicles a year.
"The entire range of Maxus models will be supplied to the Russian market," Dolgov said.
GAZ Group earlier said it intended to bring up the production of Maxus trucks in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia's Volga Region, to 20,000 trucks a year initially.
