General Motors and Avtotor celebrated the start of production and sales of the Hummer H3 in Russia at a ceremony at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad, Russia earlier this month. The ceremony was attended by Robert Lutz, vice chairman of General Motors; Vladimir Scherbakov, chairman of Avtotor; Georgy Boos, governor of Kaliningrad region, John Costin, executive director of the GM International Product Centre, Jacek Gorski, commercial director for GM CIS, and Stephen Garrity, Hummer international operations director.

The partnership between General Motors and Avtotor began two years ago with the launch of the Hummer H2 in June, 2004. The H3, a midsize sport utility vehicle, will be offered in four trim levels, the Base MT trim level; a second trim level called Base AT. The third trim level, Adventure AT, is offered for off-road enthusiasts and Luxury, the fourth trim level, offers premium options such as leather seating surfaces, a chrome appearance package, an extra large sunroof and Monsoon premium sound system with 7-speakers. All models are equipped with a 3.5L inline-5 cylinder 220hp engine and are available with either a standard manual or optional automatic transmission. The H3 will be sold and serviced by six authorised Hummer dealers located in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.

During the opening ceremony, Robert Lutz expressed his satisfaction with the successful start of production and sales of the Hummer H3 in Russia. "We see Russia as one of the highest potential growth markets for GM around the world. In fact, during the last couple of years we have witnessed the Russian car market’s strong growth and consumers’ increasing interest in vehicle choice. The H3 fits well with our strategy of offering a wide range of vehicles to satisfy this growing demand,” Lutz said. “Our cooperation with Avtotor has been successful since the initial production of the Hummer H2 in 2004, and we are confident that local production of the Hummer H3 at Avtotor will place us in a strong competitive position.”

Avotor’s Vladimir Scherbakov added: "Start of production of the Hummer H3 in Kaliningrad shows our commitment to the further development of our quality and level of expertise. We are adding the H3 to an extensive line-up of Cadillac and Chevrolet SUV vehicles. Based upon actual performance, I am pleased to announce that our quality and workmanship are in line with the high production standards of General Motors. We sincerely hope for successful continuation of our future cooperation."

Australia will get the Hummer H3 in Q1 2007 from GM's South African assembly operations.

General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz steps into a new HUMMER H3 before driving it off the factory floor at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad, Russia on Wednesday, 5th April, 2006