Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian SUV carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Monday it has launched the Nomad SUV in Kazakhstan, the first significant move by the automaker, which is looking to make a big splash in Central Asia.

The car will be shipped as a complete knock-down kit and assembled at a plant that can churn out 10,000 cars annually, the company said. The Nomad is a modified version of the Actyon compact SUV that has been specially tailored to meet the driving conditions and consumer requirements in Kazakhstan.

The CKD plant in Kostanay, in the northern part of Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border, is the first car assembly plant in the country.

It represents Astana’s drive to build up its own national automobile industry and is a testament to the headway made in economic cooperation between South Korea and Kazakhstan, the automaker said. (Yonhap)