A record number of visitors came to the latest car show in Kyiv, which featured more than 20 domestic and foreign car models offered at special prices.
The first car show took place in 2004, and the one in 2005 attracted 300,000 visitors, who purchased more than 300 vehicles. In 2006 there were close to 450,000 visitors and 500 automobiles were sold.
The scale of these annual car shows is increasing with every year. On Sept. 15-16 the car show occupied all the pavilions of the Autocenter, plus an additional specially built area covering more than 4,600 square meters. The total area of the show covered over 12 hectares. Because of the size of the show, the organizers set up a miniature train and a chain of cafes, and distributed maps of Autoland, as the special children’s sector was called.
“This year we have considerably more visitors. We emphasized the format of the show and did our best to include all kinds of car-related entertainment that would interest our visitors. We even published a special magazine — we borrowed the idea from the car show in Geneva — to help people figure out what is what and where. The show also featured special bargains for customers,” said Iryna Mikhaliova, chairperson of the Autoshow’s organizing committee. “We had surprises, like discounts that are offered only during our annual car show,” explained Viacheslav Pavroznik, deputy chairman of the board, UkrAVTO Corporation.
Those who attended the car show’s press conference agreed that the Kyiv auto show and Ukraine’s automobile market are making spectacular headway, and the annual car show is a reflection of the status of this growing industry. “The automobile industry is evolving at a rather serious speed and ranks with priority ones. Today, car manufacturing makes up more than 30 percent of the machine-building turnover,” said Kostiantyn Kucher, Deputy Minister of Industrial Policy. “The annual increase is approximately 20 to 30 percent. But this year we are nearing 50 percent. That means that this industry has one of the best prospects for development.”
There are objective reasons for this growth. UkrAVTO’s deputy chairman of the board Oleh Papashev believes it is the symbiosis of car manufacturing and effective distribution: “The successes of the Ukrainian automobile industry are directly connected with the alliance between the industrial union and auto service distribution. This alliance guarantees success. I am glad to say that we are becoming interesting not only to Ukrainians but also Europeans and the rest of the world.”
According to experts, the domestic automobile market is showing better results every year. This, in turn, generates hopes for the creation of a domestic car brand. Of course, these are just prospects so far. Kucher says that a concept for the development of automobile transport for 2015 has been adopted and that a relevant program is being drafted. UkrAVTO’s president Tariel Vasadze is already noting large-scale and important changes for the better at domestic enterprises, particularly at ZAZ: “This factory is getting better by the day. They have almost completed modernization, so they will be manufacturing 150,000 cars a year.”
With regard to other enterprises, Vasadze adds, “We are making investments. A new car factory is under construction in Cherkasy. It will produce 120,000 vehicles a year. The one in Lutsk is being modernized and we will invest more than a hundred million in it. Exploratory designs are being prepared for a car factory in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia. A power distribution network is being developed.” The president of UkrAVTO says that an entire infrastructure required for a powerful industry is being created in Ukraine. This is the “engine” of progress for both the automobile and many other — practically all industries in any country — because it means hundreds of thousands of jobs and high tech.
Yurii Pavlenko, director of Castrol Ukraine, one of the car show’s sponsors, agrees with Vasadze. “The Ukrainian market is showing significant quantitative and qualitative growth. We and our partners who take part in the car show are glad to create and develop the automobile market and all its elements. In doing so, we will be creating a civilized market with great opportunities.”
Ukraine is also increasing its exports. Vasadze says that 80,000 cars will be exported this year and 120,000 in 2008. “And this considering that we still don’t have enough capacity, otherwise we would rank first in Russia,” adds Papashev. “As far as I know, this company has very ambitious plans for reaching volume and scale that will make it possible to develop its own designs, with partners in the first phase, of course. We are sure that the Ukrainian nation is highly educated, hard-working, and disciplined,” says Vasadze. Papashev agrees: “With such production and distribution growth, the UkrAVTO group is starting to consider the possibility of reviving its own design school.” He adds, however, that it is too early to discuss a successor to the Tavria and that it will not be taken off the assembly line.
