GM's Uzbek factories turn out country's favourite cars
Chevrolet cars are parked in front of the General Motors plant in Asaka Aug. 29, 2012. Ninety-four percent of new cars sold in Uzbekistan last year were made by General Motors – the biggest share of any market served by the U.S. auto giant.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An employee works on the assembly line at GM’s Asaka plant Aug. 29, 2012. That General Motors should have a foothold in the former Soviet republic owes much to the technology and capital it brings to a country that has been the graveyard of many foreign ventures.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An employee walks past engines at GM’s Powertrain-Uzbekistan plant in Tashkent Aug. 31, 2012.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
A Chevrolet Spark passes a leakage test at the GM Asaka plant. GM sold 121,584 vehicles in Uzbekistan last year, making the country the eighth-largest market for its Chevrolet brand.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
South Korean-trained workers play chess during a break on an assembly line at GM’s Asaka plant.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An employee takes an engine from an assembly line at the GM Powertrain-Uzbekistan plant in Tashkent. In a country where monthly wages average $300 in Tashkent and less in rural areas, many would-be Chevy owners wait as long as a year to buy their car, after making a deposit of up to 85 per cent of its price.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An employee works on an assembly line at the Asaka plant.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
Pedestrians walk past posters decorating the GM plant in Asaka Aug. 30, 2012.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
A Chevrolet Spark passes a final check at the General Motors plant in Asaka Aug. 29, 2012.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An employee walks among Chevrolet cars on yard at the General Motors plant in Asaka August 29, 2012.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
An Uzbekistan flag flies in front of the General Motors logo at the General Motors Powertrain-Uzbekistan plant in Tashkent August 31, 2012.SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters
General Motors’ new Chevrolet Cobalt sedans are launched in Tashkent Sept. 5, 2012. The family-size sedan is aimed at the local Uzbek market as well as other former Soviet states, and reinforces GM’s presence in the emerging markets now driving the growth of the world’s top auto makers.STAFF/Reuters