General Motors Corp.'s half-built plant on the muddy outskirts of St. Petersburg won't roll out its first vehicle until November, but the new Russian hires are already hard at work.
In a warehouse near the factory entrance, young men and women drill bolts into car-sized wooden crates, spray-paint them and practice spot-welding metal sheets in the time allotted for each task. When production gets under way, they're expected to be up to speed.
Across the road, Toyota Motor Corp. is already rolling out Camrys at a new plant to tap surging demand in Russia for cars, while Ford Motor Co. is considering building its second Russian plant.
"The market has grown at a much faster clip than we thought," said GM President Frederick Henderson. "We're seeing all of our global competition running hard in Russia."
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