Bogdan Motors targets 25% yoy production growth, adds Chinese JAC to its portfolio

Bogdan Motors (LUAZ UK) confirmed its production target of 15000 light vehicles (up 25% yoy) in 2013, Interfax reported on May 28, citing the company’s vice president. Bogdan resumed its production on May 15 and expects to manufacture 630 light vehicles by the end of the month. The company plans to produce 10-12K Bogdan-brand Ladas, 2-3K units of Hyundai Tucson and up to 1K of Chinese JAC after signing a partnership agreement with China’s Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd. earlier this month. The company also said it will withdraw production of Hyundai Elantra this year.

Roman Dmytrenko: The partnership with the Chinese automaker should help Bogdan to improve its capacity utilization this year but overall, Bogdan’s product portfolio with a strong bias towards the obsolete Lada models still looks uncompetitive. The sales of Lada brand cars in Ukraine fell 30% yoy in 2012, making it the second best-selling auto brand after Hyundai.  In this respect, the Hyundai Elantra’s withdrawal looks controversial as it was the second best-selling Hyundai-brand car in Ukraine last year, representing 1.5% of total new car sales for the year, according to auto consulting agency data.