Start Of Assembly Of HUMMER H2 At Avtotor In Russia

Kaliningrad June 25, 2004; General Motors and Avtotor today celebrated the official start of assembly of the HUMMER H2 at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad, Russia. The ceremony was attended by Jonathan Browning, GM Europe Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales; Vladimir Sherbakov, Chairman Avtotor; Vladimir Egorov, Kaliningrad Governor; and John Costin, GM Executive Director International Product Center.

In the first full year of production, assembly of over 200 HUMMER H2 vehicles is planned at Avtotor, for sale on the Russian market only. The H2 will be offered in three trim levels. Starting price for the H2 is $86,500. The second trim, Adventure, is directed at off-road enthusiasts, and is priced at $91,800. Luxury, the third trim, offers up-scale options and is featured at $94,000. All models are equipped with a 6.0-liter V8 321 hp engine, supported by a heavy-duty 4 speed automatic transmission. The vehicles will be sold and serviced by five authorized HUMMER dealers located in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.

During the assembly ceremony, Jonathan Browning expressed his satisfaction with the successful start of production of the HUMMER H2 in Russia: "Along with countries such as China, India or Brazil, we see Russia as one of the eight countries that have the highest vehicle market growth potential around the world. In fact, over the next 10 years, independent research companies expect the Russian car market to increase tremendously. As a company, we believe in producing where we sell, an example of which we can already see here in Russia with the Chevrolet Niva production at our GM-AVTOVAZ Joint Venture in Togliatti. We are confident that local production of the HUMMER H2 at Avtotor will place us in a strong position for this vehicle as well."

Avotors's Vladimir Sherbakov added: "Start of production of the HUMMER H2 in Kaliningrad shows our commitment to the further development of our production and level of expertise. I am pleased that our quality and workmanship are in line with the high production standards of General Motors. We sincerely hope that this is only the first step in our cooperation."

Russia is one of very few countries in the world with sales exceeding one million units annually. General Motors Corporation is already present in the Russian market with its brands Opel, Saab, Chevrolet and Cadillac and as a partner with AVTOVAZ and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the GM-AVTOVAZ Joint Venture, where the Chevrolet Niva is produced. The GM family of brands is number one in terms of sales volume for non-Russian brands in the Russian market, with over 25,000 registrations from January to May 2004.