Ural Moves to Kazakhstan, New Motorcycles to Ship Soon

[Hugh Janus]

Ural is resuming production in Kazakhstan following economic sanctions imposed on Russia. (Ural/)

As a result of sanctions imposed on Russia due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, IMZ-Ural is setting up a new production facility in Kazakhstan, effectively abandoning its former home of Irbit in Russia.

“There were no options left,” says Madina Merzhoeva, VP of marketing and international sales, from her home 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 particularly hard. The brand builds roughly 1,200 sidecar-equipped motorcycles each year, exporting 95 percent of them. Compounding production issues is the fact that 80 percent of the motorcycles’ components are imported from outside Russia. The company’s existence is utterly dependent on its participation in the global 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].”

Ural’s new assembly facility in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border. (Ural/)

Production is moving to Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, some 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) southeast of the former factory in Irbit. Petropavlovsk was selected for a variety of reasons, including the presence of a large Russian-speaking population. Much of the existing management from Irbit will carry over while Ural is hiring and training approximately two dozen new employees locally. The 20,000-square-foot space is currently being set up for full operation.

Signs of life. Racks of parts, assembly stations, and crates for fully assembled motorcycles. (Ural/)

Khait says that the company had been considering a move to a new facility, citing the logistical challenges of importing parts and exporting the final product from the middle of Russia, but geopolitical events forced its hand. Khait is uncertain whether or not the new facility in Kazakhstan will become Ural’s permanent home.

After two decades of investment, Ural has cultivated a small but devoted customer base. According to Merzhoeva, almost none of the customers who placed deposits on new motorcycles before the beginning of sanctions have asked 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.”

Scenes from Ural’s MotoDiscovery tour through Argentina and Chile. News of the war broke out during the last days of the trip. (Ural/)

Ural’s story is intertwined with Russian history, geography, and culture. Few motorcycles convey brand identity so fluently. The company is unsure whether moving its production facility to Kazakhstan will change or weaken brand identity.

“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.”

On the road. (Ural/)

Apologizing for becoming philosophical, Merzhoeva begins to unpack what makes Ural unique in the market—worth saving, in other words.

“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 also remarked that, while Ural is not the most technologically advanced motorcycle on the market, he believes his company is the most courageous in the industry.

Ural expects to ship new motorcycles beginning in September.

For customers who have already placed deposits on a new Ural, the end of the wait is near. (Ural/)

Source

[Buckster]

Good for them.

[Pedro]

2 hours ago, Buckster said:

Good for them.

They just moved literally just to the other side of the border to get around sanctions. Fuck em, let them suffer like other Russian companies, or are they different because they make bikes?

[Buckster]

All they need now is a 270 degrees crank.

[Pedro]

Just now, Buckster said:

All they need now is a 270 degrees crank.

Pretty funky on a boxer 

[Buckster]

I’m going to get one now that they are not Russian.