23.11.2004

The SOK Group has announced its track record for the 9 months of 2004

The total sales of automotive components was 36.8 bln roubles, which is 1 bln roubles above the targets and 6.6 bln roubles higher than the showing for the same period last year. The 2004 sales forecast, according to the Group’s Strategic Development Department, is 49.7 bln roubles.

The investments of the SOK Group for the period were 477 mln roubles, including 300 mln roubles allocated for production expansion and new projects, and 177 mln roubles for equipment upgrading. The approved 2005 investment budget is 420,000 mln roubles.

The company has indentified its major avenues of development and finalized its plans for 2005.

According to the SOK Group General Director Alexander Solovyov, the priority task is to develop partnership relations with foreign producers (GM AvtoVAZ, Ford, etc.). “We expect the automotive market in Russia to grow in an increasingly competitive environment, first of all due to the presence of western producers. At the same time, the market growth driven by the overall growth of the economy makes it possible for us to increase our market share,” said Alexander Solovyov.

“We can improve the performance and stability of the company on the market by cutting down the business process costs across the board,” said Alexander Solovyov at a business meeting with CEOs of the SOK Group members. In 2005, the Group management plans to start negotiations on partnership with all the global auto producers that have set their sights on the Russian market, including TOYOTA and Volkswagen. Further developments are expected to take place under the SOK Group’s joint projects with KIA Motors Corp.

The Group will also continue working in close mesh with its traditional partners — AvtoVAZ JSC, GAZ OJSC, UAZ  OJSC, KAMAZ OJSC.

In the area of quality assurance, the Group management has prepared a reshuffle of the major business processes to enable transition to the ISO/TU 16949 standard, which is superior to the ISO-9000 standard. “We should already be introducing quality standards at our facilities to make it possible for us to become suppliers of global producers set to expand into the Russian market,” pointed out Alexander Solovyov in his address.