FRANKFURT -- General Motors said it will begin kit production of its Opel Corsa subcompact in Belarus for Russia and neighboring markets.
Together with joint-venture partner Unison JSC, Opel said today it plans to assemble 7,000 cars in the first year of production at Unison's plant in Minsk.
The automaker didn't say when production would start and a spokesperson was not reachable for comment.
The partners will assemble the Corsa from semi-knockdown kits from Opel's plants in Germany and Spain.
"With the production of the Corsa in Belarus, we are following our strategy of producing cars where we plan to sell them. The delivery of assembly kits to a developing market also means an additional boost for our plants in Eisenach [Germany] and Zaragossa [Spain]," Peter Thom, Opel's manufacturing chief, said in a statement.
Opel said it will build both the three- and five-door models that are currently sold in the region, but the sporty OPC variant will continue to be imported from Europe.
The production agreement is valid until 2017, the statement added.
Through May, Opel sales in Russia rose 3 percent to 33,107, according to data from the Association of European Businesses (AEB) published earlier this month.
