GM to Increase Output at St. Petersburg Plant

General Motors aims to produce 98 thousand vehiceles at its Russian plant in St. Petersburg in 2012, up 53% from this year’s plan of 64 thousand units, RIA Novosti reports, citing plant director Romuald Rytwinski. The facility, which currently builds the Chevrolet Captiva and Cruze sedan, as well as the Opel Antara and Astra, will more than double production in 2011 by introducing a third work shift and adding the Cruze hatchback to the line.

On the longer-term, GM will boost capacity of the plant to 230,000 units and increase output of its joint venture with AvtoVAZ to 120,000 units, so that it can produce 350,000 vehicles a year in Russia by 2020.