The Ecotec engines have a cast-iron block and aluminum head, with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.
General Motors and a joint venture partner, state owned UzAvtosanoat, have dedicated a new engine plant in Tashkent, 400 kilometers from the automakers’ vehicle manufacturing facility in Asaka, Uzbekistan. It represents GM’s largest powertrain investment to date in Central Asia.
The first engines produced at the plant in November will be installed in the Chevrolet Spark mini car that holds a 94% share of the Uzbekistan domestic market and is exported to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
GM owns 52% of GM Powertrain Uzbekistan and UzAvtosanoat has the remaining 48%. The facility, which covers 40 hectares, is GM’s first engine plant in Uzbekistan. It will produce more than 225,000 new Ecotec 1.2-liter and 1.5-liter engines for use in GM small passenger cars sold around the world. GM through its Daewoo association has been producing cars in Uzbekistan since the 1990s.
The Uzbekistan plant joins facilities in China and Korea as a producer of GM’s Ecotec 1.2 liter and 1.5 liter engines. Both engines use a cast-iron block and aluminum head, with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. They are Euro V emissions compliant. The new engine plant, which will employ up to 1,200 people, and have the flexibility to switch between production of engine variants based on demand.
The engine facility is the second manufacturing joint venture between GM and UzAvtosanoat. GM Uzbekistan was established in March 2008 by the two companies. GM holds a 25% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 75% held by the state. GM Uzbekistan employs approximately 6,600 people and produces more than 200,000 Chevrolet passenger vehicles annually for domestic sale and export.
