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GM, AvtoVAZ launch $332 mln Russian joint venture

MOSCOW, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The world's largest automaker, General Motors Corp , and Russian car maker AvtoVAZ , launched a $332 million joint venture on Monday to produce the Chevy-Niva sport utility vehicle, GM said.

GM-AvtoVAZ, located in Togliatti on the Volga River in central Russia, plans to produce 450 cars this year and 35,000 by 2003.

The factory's installed capacity is 75,000 cars a year.

By 2005, the venture plans to export 30,000 vehicles to Western Europe, with future plans to boost exports to 40,000.

GM and AvtoVAZ each hold 41.5 percent of the company, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD.UL] has 17 percent.

This is the second investment by a major automaker in the Russian car industry. In July this year, Ford Motor Co opened a $150 million assembly plant in the northwest of Russia to produce its Focus model.

A Fiat subsidiary, Iveco, has also signed a deal to produce trucks with Russia's GAZ from 2003.