Hansae Mobility opens Uzbekistan factory to expand Central Asia push

Hansae Mobility, the automotive parts arm of Hansae YES24 Group, announced Thursday that it has established a new production base in Uzbekistan, expanding a supply relationship with a local automaker that spans more than 30 years into on-the-ground manufacturing as it steps up its push into the Central Asian market.

The company held a completion ceremony Tuesday (local time) for its wholly owned subsidiary Hansae Mobility Turan in Fergana, Uzbekistan.

The Turan factory was built to assemble and supply locally the braking and steering components that Hansae Mobility has provided to UzAuto Motors since 1995. The facility sits on a 20,000-square-meter plot and includes a 12,000-square-meter building comprising a production wing and an office wing. Fergana Province supported the project by constructing the factory within eight months and leasing it to the company.

The factory's main customers are UzAuto Motors' Khorezm plant, which produces the Damas and Labo models, and its Asaka plant, which produces the Cobalt. Hansae Mobility plans to supply the Damas and Labo with caliper brakes, drum brakes, power brakes, steering columns and intermediate shafts at a rate of 150,000 units a year, and to supply braking components for the Cobalt at 160,000 units a year.

The factory is equipped with dedicated assembly lines and automated testing systems for each product. Barcodes are used to store assembly and test results for finished goods, while a manufacturing execution system manages production orders and tracks real-time status. The facility also features a coordinate measuring machine and brake performance testing equipment, allowing dimensional and performance verification to be carried out on-site.

Hansae Mobility has invested a total of $10 million in the Turan factory to date and plans to inject an additional $3 million in the second half of this year. The company also intends to grow its local workforce from the current 100 employees to 140 by year-end.

Hansae Mobility plans to develop the Turan factory into a strategic hub for expanding its Central Asian business, not merely a production facility. "We will continue to expand our production base and customer network into Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, as well as North America, to strengthen our global competitiveness," said Kim Ik-hwan, CEO of Hansae Mobility and vice chairman of Hansae.