Daimler AG and Uzavtosanoat Establish Bus Joint Venture in Uzbekistan

Stuttgart/Tashkent, Uzbekistan

* New joint venture: Manufacturing Buses Central Asia – A Mercedes-Benz Buses – Uzavtosanoat JV
* 51 percent owned by Mercedes-Benz Buses Central Asia GmbH, 49 percent by Uzbek company Uzavtosanoat
* Product range encompasses coaches, intercity buses, city buses and midibuses

Daimler AG and Uzavtosanoat JSC today signed an agreement for the establishment of a bus joint venture. The ceremony was held in Tashkent. The joint venture will assemble and sell coaches, intercity buses, city buses, and midibuses for the Uzbek market and for export to neighboring countries. The contract’s closing is scheduled for the third quarter of 2010.

The Daimler subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Buses Central Asia GmbH will own a majority stake (51 percent) in the new joint venture. The remaining 49 percent of the new firm will be owned by the automotive holding company Uzavtosanoat.

Uzavtosanoat will provide the factory buildings. Daimler Buses will deliver the Mercedes-Benz chassis, while the bodies will be built in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz’ long-standing body-building partner, Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV).

The production capacities being created allow a minimum of 600 buses annually under full-scale production, with the possibility to gradually increase the volumes. The first batch of vehicles is to be delivered as early as September. The products manufactured in Uzbekistan will include luxury coaches as well as intercity buses and low-entry city buses and midibuses, which will be sold under the “Mercedes-Benz” brand. All buses fulfill the Euro 3 emission standard which has been effective in Uzbekistan since January 2010.

It is envisaged that the Joint Venture will use advanced production technologies and will also localize automotive parts and components. The parties of the joint venture will also assist the JV in establishing its sales and after-sales network. In order to support export, it is planned to use the existing dealer networks of both Uzavtosanoat and Daimler in neighboring countries.

To date, Daimler Buses has sold around 1,000 buses to customers in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. All the city buses over eight tons GVW (gross vehicle weight) sold over the past years were Mercedes-Benz Conecto vehicles, giving the star brand a 100-percent share of the market for city buses longer than 12 meters.

Tashkent has a very well-organized local public transportation system, which operates Central Asia’s largest and most modern bus fleet on an extensive network of roads. The city’s existing fleet of Mercedes-Benz 0405 city buses is gradually being replaced with Mercedes-Benz Conecto vehicles.

About Uzavtosanoat

Uzavtosanoat JSC was established in March 1994. Currently the company incorporates more than 30 large and medium enterprises and companies, including companies with foreign capital and technologies from South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Germany, USA. Main activities of company’s enterprises consist of production of passenger cars, buses, trucks and component parts. The company employs more than 16 thousand employees, more than 5 thousand of which have been trained in leading production facilities in various countries of the world.