Suzuki to build car plant in St. Petersburg, Russia

Suzuki Motor Corporation has decided to build an industrial assembly production plant in St. Petersburg in order to meet growing demand for new cars in the Russian market. The plant will be built in St. Petersburg's Shushary industrial zone.

An agreement on the new plant's construction was signed today by Suzuki's Chairman and CEO, Osamu Suzuki, and Russia's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Herman Gref, who are attending the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. Mr. Suzuki also signed a memorandum with the Governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, agreeing to conduct studies on strategic investment in the Shushary industrial zone.

The St. Petersburg plant will represent an investment of ¥14 billion and is scheduled to start operating in the latter half of 2009. Models scheduled for production are the Grand Vitara compact sport utility vehicle and the SX4 sport crossover vehicle. Suzuki targets production of 5,000 units in the plant's first year of operation and future annual production of 30,000 units.

In 2006, Suzuki's 30 dealers in Russia sold 16,000 units of the Grand Vitara and other models.

Overview of new plant