30 August 2015, 09:11
GAZ Group, part of one of the Russian largest diversified industrial groups - Basic Element, started sales of GAZelle NEXT vehicles in Serbia. The vehicles are sold by the partner of GAZ Group - Verano Motors, part of one of the largest trade and industrial groups in the Balkans - Verano Group. Sales of GAZ vehicles will also kick off in three countries of South-Eastern Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia till the end of the year.
GAZ Group launched sales of GAZelle NEXT in Serbia. Several dealer centers were the first to start trucks’ sales. The staff of the Verano Motors dealer network has passed GAZ maintenance training as the auto maker was entering Serbian market.
GAZ product portfolio in the Balkan markets includes single-cabin GAZelle NEXT trucks, crew cabin versions as well as specialty vehicles. All the models meet the Euro-5 emissions standard. Euro-5 certification tests of GAZelle NEXT were carried out by the European technical service company AT IDIADA (Spain). According to their results, the vehicles complied with 43 safety requirements, 113 international certificates were received.
GAZ group will start selling a new truck model, a panel van GAZelle NEXT in the Balkans in December. In addition to the NEXT family, GAZ Group will supply its export versions of AWD Sobol vehicles equipped with Euro-5 engines to the Balkans.
Milan Vukasovich, Director of Verano Motors:
– We had run a number of presentations and test-drives of GAZelle NEXT for our customers before the start of sales. The vehicle was appreciated and attracted great interest of customers from various business sectors. I am sure that thanks to their high functionality, excellent steerability, reliability and efficiency, GAZ vehicles will be in demand in the markets of Serbia and other Balkan countries.
Vadim Sorokin, GAZ Group President:
– Start of sales in the Balkans is, in fact, the first step of GAZ to enter European market. We’ve made a long way towards this goal, our engineers have developed the new generation of GAZelle NEXT vehicles that have become the most popular LCV in Russia for two years, they developed the Euro-5 version for export markets and certified the vehicles in the European Union. Now we have a lot of work to do in order to boost brand awareness and loyalty among the European customers. The professional organization of maintenance and service of our Serbian partner - Verano Motors is especially important for this purpose. I am confident that customers of South-Eastern Europe will appreciate the advantages of our vehicles and that GAZ will gradually expand its presence in Europe.