ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Amid the gloom and doom of the economic meltdown that has seen auto sales plummet worldwide, the opening of General Motors' new $300 million plant, declared open on Friday here, is a rare bright spot.The facility, located in the Shushary industrial area near St. Petersburg that is home to four other auto plants, is GM's high-stakes bet on an emerging market in the wake of steep drops in its U.S. sales. The new plant will produce GM SUVs, the Chevrolet Captiva and Opel Antara, which have become status symbols in Russia. Starting in June 2009, the company will also start production of its new Chevrolet Cruze sedan, which was showcased at the 2008 Moscow Auto Show in September.Buoyed by spiraling sales in this fast-growing auto market, GM started construction on the Shushary plant in June 2006. Last year, GM announced plans to nearly double its investment to $300 million and expanded production capacity to 70,000 vehicles from 40,000, citing 'high demand for Chevrolet in Europe.' The new plant will employ 1,700 workers who will produce 75,000 vehicles per year to start — which could balloon to 210,000 if demand is sufficient, officials said.Chevrolet is the sales champion in Russia, with 190,553 cars sold last year alone, allowing GM to claim a 10.9 percent market share here. Likewise, Opel is in Russia's top 10 in sales, recording a whopping 238 percent sales growth in 2007, according to GM figures.Since establishing itself in Russia in 1992, GM has grown to produce about 100,000 vehicles per year at plants across Russia. It has built the Chevy Niva, its compact SUV, here in a joint venture with AvtoVAZ and has also assembled the Tahoe and at its Kalingrad plant.An agreement inked with Avtotor in 2004 has allowed GM to assemble its Hummer H2 & H3 as well as Cadillac CTS, STS and SRX and two Chevy models — Epica and Lacetti — in Russia's Western enclave of Kaliningrad.With operations in more than 50 cities, GM has been doing impressively well in the local auto market, analysts said. The company sold 259,000 vehicles in 2007, a 95 percent increase over the 132,600 it sold in 2006, increasing its market share to 9.5 percent from 6.6 percent a year earlier. Sales grew to 256,765 vehicles in the first nine months of 2008, according to figures released by the company.Inside Line says: General Motors is moving strongly into this now-proven market. — Tai Adelaja, Correspondent