Photo: Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan multi-brand plant

Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan Multi-Brand Plant has been started up. That is why, Astana Motors announces a reduction in prices for cars produced at the plant.

Currently, the equipment at the plant is fully installed and put into operation. The plant has been commissioned and received the first batch of components for the production of Chery, Changan, and Haval.

Nurlan Smagulov, founder of Astana Motors, noted that localization of production will make cars more affordable: starting from September 16, the cost of Chery, Changan, and Haval models will be reduced.

“The plant has made a commitment under the industrial assembly agreement with the state to ensure 30 % CKD assembly including welding and painting. By localizing cars, we reduce their cost. Accordingly, as responsible entrepreneurs, we reduce prices for the above-mentioned cars by 7–15 % depending on the model,” Nurlan Smagulov emphasized.

The official distributors of Chery, Changan, and Haval in Kazakhstan will announce more details about the new car prices in the near future. All these brands, as well as the plant, are part of Astana Motors.

The production capacity of Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan is 120 thousand cars per year. The production area is 211 thousand square meters, the land area is 309 thousand square meters. The number of jobs when the plant reaches full capacity is 3600. Now, 1700 people are employed.

The production facility has robotic and automated welding, painting and assembly shops, component warehouses, an automatic body distribution warehouse, a weighing room, a test site, warehouses of paint and varnish materials and finished products, utilities, an administrative building, and others.

A total of 54 robots are engaged in the multi-brand plant. The welding shop is equipped with 17 Japanese Fanuc robots, which connect body parts with high accuracy and stable quality. 34 industrial robots and ABB atomizers (Sweden-Switzerland) operate in the paint shop. The cataphoresis line has 20 pots. This allows the anti-corrosion coating of bodies to be processed and applied at the highest technological level.

The assembly shop has three Fanuc robots that apply glue to the car’s glazing elements, following a trajectory set by the program. Robots are designed to ensure the quality and stability of the assembly process.

The key supplier of equipment for the plant is Automotive Engineering Corporation (PRC), a leader in the production of equipment for such global auto giants as BMW, Hyundai, Toyota, Jaguar, Land Rover, BYD, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, etc.

The plant also has equipment from such global brands as ABB (Sweden-Switzerland), BOSH (Germany), Fanuc (Japan), Obara (South Korea), Schneider (France), Siemens (Germany), and others.

The construction of the multi-brand plant was launched by Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a business trip to Almaty in November 2022.

The Technical Licensing Agreements (TLA) were signed in May 2023 during the visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to China, during a round table with representatives of the Chinese business community in Xi’an.

Investments in the project exceeded 202 billion tenge. Of these, 37 % were financed by Astana Motors, and 63 % from borrowed repayable funds raised through credit instruments from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and the Industrial Development Fund at a rate of 9 % per annum for a period of 15 years. The project was implemented with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Akimat of Almaty.