As a results of sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of ongoing Russo-Ukrainian struggle, IMZ-Ural is establishing a brand new manufacturing facility in Kazakhstan, successfully abandoning its former house of Irbit in Russia.
“There were no options left,” says Madina Merzhoeva, VP of selling and worldwide gross sales, from her house in Washington state. “It was a very cold November in 1941 when the factory had to move from Moscow to Irbit, and it was a chill February in 2022 when the factory had to move again.”
Sanctions have hit Ural notably arduous. The model builds roughly 1,200 sidecar-equipped bikes every year, exporting 95 % of them. Compounding manufacturing points is the truth that 80 % of the bikes’ elements are imported from outdoors Russia. The firm’s existence is completely depending on its participation within the world market.
Ilya Khait, CEO of IMZ-Ural, says, “We spent 20 years inserting ourselves into the global economy. It was a very lengthy, difficult, and costly process of moving away from the Soviet-style factory in Irbit, which did everything in-house and didn’t do it very well, to becoming more modern and purchasing the best components for [our products].”
Production is shifting to Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, some 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) southeast of the previous manufacturing unit in Irbit. Petropavlovsk was chosen for a wide range of causes, together with the presence of a big Russian-speaking inhabitants. Much of the prevailing administration from Irbit will carry over whereas Ural is hiring and coaching roughly two dozen new workers domestically. The 20,000-square-foot house is at present being arrange for full operation.
Khait says that the corporate had been contemplating a transfer to a brand new facility, citing the logistical challenges of importing elements and exporting the ultimate product from the center of Russia, however geopolitical occasions pressured its hand. Khait is unsure whether or not or not the brand new facility in Kazakhstan will develop into Ural’s everlasting house.
After twenty years of funding, Ural has cultivated a small however devoted buyer base. According to Merzhoeva, nearly not one of the clients who positioned deposits on new bikes earlier than the start of sanctions have requested for refunds.
“People understand that what’s happening doesn’t represent the brand,” she says. “Everything we’ve done over the last 20 years as a brand is aligned with the exact opposite values that are being used [to justify] this conflict. Ural has always been about integration into the world. It’s always been about community, doing things together and connecting. Probably unlike any other motorcycle brand, in a sense, because by nature there are two or more people riding in a Ural.”
Ural’s story is intertwined with Russian historical past, geography, and tradition. Few bikes convey model id so fluently. The firm is uncertain whether or not shifting its manufacturing facility to Kazakhstan will change or weaken model id.
“We struggled internally with this question,” Merzhoeva says. “It’s true that part of Ural’s identity has to do with what we consider Russian toughness and resilience. We had to re-understand ourselves. You don’t choose your parents or the country you are born in. It’s part of your identity. It’s not going to go away. Ural was born in Russia and that part of the identity is there. Is that everything? Is that what Ural is? It’s about much more than that. It’s about what we do every day as a brand, the people who use the product every day, and what we give to the world.”
Apologizing for changing into philosophical, Merzhoeva begins to unpack what makes Ural distinctive out there—value saving, in different phrases.
“Humanity—all of us—are facing the same problems and challenges,” she says. “There’s a lot of uncertainty. As a motorcycle brand that’s not technologically advanced, we are delivering a product that allows people to do something outside the digital realm. They can experience and process all these emotions: not in their heads, not online, but in real life. And with a Ural you can do it with your family, your friend, even with your pet. It gives the comfort of doing things in real life, meeting challenges and discovering that they are overcomeable. It’s a kind of therapy to deal with reality—and to do it together with people we love.”
“Ural is not about nationality,” Khait added. “Ural is about character.”
The CEO additionally remarked that, whereas Ural just isn’t essentially the most technologically superior motorbike available on the market, he believes his firm is essentially the most brave within the business.
Ural expects to ship new bikes starting in September.
Source: www.cycleworld.com