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Market experts believe that with the commissioning of the Belgi plant in the Minsk region, Belarus’ demand for Chinese cars may increase. On November 17, the Belarusian president attended the opening ceremony of the new plant.
The Belarusian-Chinese enterprise Belji started building a new plant in 2015. The total investment is about 400 million euros. The plant is located between Zhodino and Borisov.
As stated at the opening ceremony Alexander LukashenkoIt is his dream to produce passenger cars in Belarus. “Our friends responded to my request and helped create this wonderful plant. In addition, they provided a loan. So, today I would like to say first that my dream of making my own passenger car has come true.” – Lukashenko noted.
The state will encourage people to buy Geely
Lukashenko spoke about the draft decree in a communication with employees, which is aimed at stimulating Belarusians to buy cars produced in Belgium.
“As you know, production is not a problem, the main thing is sales. Not only is the market already saturated, competitors are searching in Belarus and abroad, trying to find at least a small niche to sell their products. Competition is fierce. Today, the government has been instructed to develop measures that will allow us to sell at least 60,000 cars in the domestic and foreign markets. Although this number is small, 60,000 is a profitable job and a good salary for the workforce.” Lukashenko said.
Today, Geely’s first flagship crossover Atlas rolled off the production line at its new factory.
“We are looking at what opportunities there are to help buy the car. A family needs a car. So we need to figure out how to support you. I think we will find good options. The document will be released soon.” – said the head of state.
Various options are being explored, including deferred payment credits and leasing. As Lukashenko stressed, the state is interested in ensuring that as many Belarusians as possible buy domestic cars.
“But there is another goal – to produce more. We will double our efforts. I think we will sell 60,000 cars and strive for 120,000. – He said. – I want this enterprise to be profitable. Otherwise, we’ll end up with a toy, yours and mine, and we’ll look at it and be ecstatic, and sell 10,000 cars a year, and the enterprise won’t bring in any revenue.”
Lukashenko also stressed the need to extend the warranty period of Geely cars produced in Belarus. “The warranty period is five years. We have been offering 100,000 kilometers for four years, and it will take five years. We have to work hard for this.” – The head of state is convinced.
He believed that it was necessary to create our own design bureau on the basis of the new Belgian plant. “We need to create our own design bureau. Yes, now experts from Sweden and other countries help us. But you need to have your own people. In the first stage, we need to have 10-13 people, who will contact our designers from MAZ, BelAZ, and slowly accumulate experience, so that we can develop the design and manufacture of cars ourselves from scratch.” – said Lukashenko.
China’s car quality has improved significantly
With the start of production at the Belgi plant in the Minsk region, Belarusians’ demand for Chinese cars may intensify. Andrei Provotorov – Deputy Director of Commercial Issues of Private Unitary Enterprise “Business Auto”, the official distributor of the Chinese brand Lifan Motors in Belarus.
According to the data for the first eight months, Belarus sold 19,990 new cars, of which 782 were Chinese brands. At the same time, Geely’s share was 59%, and Lifan’s was 22%.
Provotorov said the sales momentum of Chinese cars in Belarus has not yet been sustained.
“The dynamics of the entire Chinese car market are uneven: there are ups and downs, various brands appear on the market, then disappear again, and others replace them. At the same time, quite a while has passed since the first Chinese cars began to be sold in Belarus. It was clear that the first cars had quality problems, but the brands and companies that remained began to invest a lot of effort in technical components, and the quality has since improved significantly and is comparable to European brands.” – Provotorov noted.
He pointed out that Chinese car companies, like European brands, are heterogeneous. “Some are in it for quick money, while others are in it for long-term strategy. So today, only those companies that want to build long-term relationships with their customers are left,” ——Lifan representative emphasized.
Officials will be transferred to Geely
Imported cars for Belarusian state agencies will gradually be replaced by domestically produced Geely cars.
“I have put a vertical ban on all civil servants buying imported cars. We have already bought dozens of these cars and will now replace them in a phased manner – from the government to the district executive committee chairpersons, – Lukashenko said. — It’s already happened here, and we’re going to do it.”
The head of state noted that the factory workers themselves should switch to cars produced by them. But it is not known whether the president himself will switch to Geely cars assembled in Belarus. Although he already owns a Chinese car.
After the ceremony, the head of the Chinese company presented Lukashenko with a Geely electric car that has not yet been produced in Belarus.
The head of state assured that he would definitely test the car, especially since he had something to compare it with – he had previously tested the capabilities of Tesla electric cars.
Photo courtesy of the Belarusian Presidential Press Office
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