Project to launch commercial production of Volga-Siber cars
Since the signing of the agreement more than 3,000 units of equipment have been dismantled and transported from the US. A project has been developed for introducing the technological process being handed over and adjusting it to production capacity of 100,000 cars a year at the GAZ plant, the necessary engineering service lines have been laid and the equipment has been installed, 44 modern robotic complexes and two automatic welding lines have been put in place. In fact a whole new production complex has been built to produce the Siber: the body welding and assembly shop, car assembly shop, the painting complex Haden-2 has been modernised to meet current body painting standards. The main 300m assembly line is based on the modern Siemens automatic electrical elevated railway (Germany) with adjustable height to ensure optimum conditions for automobile assembly. The line has good ergonomics and flexible conditions in every workplace depending on the operation performed.
In early 2008 the full cycle of production - welding and body-painting, car assembly and fine-tuning - was launched.
An effective quality assurance system based on automation at all the stages in the production of the Siber car has been introduced. Production is 85% automated, which rules out the negative impact of the human factor.
Quality control in the production of the Siber includes checking the parameters of every car throughout the production cycle including checking body geometry by a precision coordinate measuring machine, checking the quality of welded spots by the non-intrusive ultrasonic method. The car quality is ensured also by special equipment to control its electrical and electronic systems as well as automatic control of tightening of threaded elements that are critical for safety.
In the finishing section the automobile is tested on Dominion and Fori beds (US), which check the car's dynamics and brake systems. The water proofing is tested in a specialised water test chamber and the sound proofing on a specialised track. A special method of car testing (CSA) on the basis of Chrysler standards assesses the car "from the consumer's point of view".
Over 70% of the car will be assembled from parts from leading US and European suppliers, such as Magna, Bosch, TRW, Valeo, ZF and others. Local parts for the Volga-Siber in Russia will be supplied only by companies that meet world quality standards, i.e. the Russian subsidiaries of Magna, Automotive Lighting, Lear Corporation, Tenneco Automotive and others. GAZ Group expects to raise local content to 50% if Russian enterprises provide the same or even better quality of components.
The Volga-Siber will be marketed in several stages: commercial production will begin on July 24 this year, September 1 will see the launching of sales in 12 Russian regions with the largest market capacity. This year 12,000 new cars are to be sold. In 2009 sales are to rise to 45,000. The plant's capacity is 65,000 cars a year.
