OREANDA-NEWS. Kaliningrad plant "Autotor" began to produce heavy-duty trucks TATA Daewoo. Investment in the organization of production of South Korean trucks exceeded 15 million Euros. Currently the power of "Autotor" permit to produce up to 15,000 trucks per year.

"Autotor", in particular, will produce four models - tractor of premium class TATA Daewoo Prima, dump truck TATA Daewoo Novus and two trucks on chassis TATA Daewoo Novus Cargo. Depending on the model, they can be used for the transport of containers, general cargo. The vehicles have a curb weight of up to 40 tons with a lifting capacity exceeding 20 tonnes. All models comply with the standard "Euro-5" and they can be used on European routes. Equipment for assembly of vehicles was supplied by South Korean company TATA Daewoo. Trucks are assembled in the Kaliningrad region from the components that come from South Korea. Bodies Shmitz and Grunwald, with which are equipped trucks, are manufactured in Kaliningrad.

As the representative of TATA Daewoo, Kim Ki Jol, remarked, while the final production of trucks by the company at the facilities of "Autotor" in Kaliningrad was not defined, but the company expects to produce here up to 10% of annual demand for heavy trucks in Russia, which, excluding the 20-percent drop in demand caused by the crisis, is 40 million units.

Production is focused primarily on the Russian market, said General Director of "Autotor Holding", Alexander Sorokin. "The Russian manufacturers of transport do not allow carriers to deliver quickly the goods in other regions by the domestic cars because they do not meet the European standards", - he said.

The Korean company has announced interest in the localization of production. Mr.Sorokin noted that the production launch of trucks is an integral part of the project automotive cluster in the Kaliningrad region, which should start in 2016.

General Director of "Autotor Holding" also added that it is important for the company to create jobs in the territory of Russia. According to him, the Russian car market has fallen in almost all segments by more than 20%. "Of course, the volume of production due to the situation on the market this year will be less than in the previous year, but it is still sufficient for us to preserve jobs. We would not have cuts and deprive people of work", - said Mr.Sorokin. In 2015, according to marketers it must occur the replacing of the car parc, he added.