The automotive industry in the Soviet Union spanned the history of the state from 1929 to 1991. It started with the establishment of large car manufacturing plants and reorganisation of the AMO Factory in Moscow in the late 1920s–early 1930s, during the
first five-year plan
The first five-year plan (russian: I пятилетний план, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, created by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in ...
, and continued until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991.
Before its
dissolution, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
produced 2.1-2.3 million units per year of all types, and was the sixth (previously fifth)
largest automotive producer, ranking ninth place in
cars, third in
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s, and first in
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es.
Soviet industry exported 300,000-400,000 cars annually, mainly to
Soviet Union satellite countries, but also to Northern America, Central and Western Europe, and Latin America.
There were substantial numbers of highway trucks (
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
,
MAN
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
from capitalist countries;
LIAZ
LiAZ () is a bus manufacturing company located in Likino-Dulyovo, Russia. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GAZ. Specializes in designing and manufacturing buses large and extra large class (length 10.5 m and +).
Starting in 2015, the ...
,
Csepel
Csepel (german: Tschepele) is the 21st district and a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Csepel officially became part of Budapest on 1 January 1950.
Location
Csepel is located at the northern end of Csepel Island in the Danube, and covers ...
and
IFA
IFA or Ifa may refer to:
Organisations
Economics
* Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK
* Index Fund Advisors
* Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK
* Institute of Ac ...
from socialist countries) in some quantities, construction trucks (
Magirus-Deutz
Magirus GmbH is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus (1824–1895). It was formerly known as Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG, maker of the Deutz engines, so the brand commonly used was Magirus Deutz, and fo ...
,
Tatra), delivery trucks (
Robur and
Avia
Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ...
) and urban, intercity and tourist buses (
Ikarus,
Karosa
Karosa ( cs, Továrna na Kočáry, Automobily, Rotory, Obráběcí stroje, Sekací stroje a Autobusy, en, Factory for carriages, cars, rotors, machine tools, cutting machines and buses) was a bus manufacturer in Vysoké Mýto in the Czech Republ ...
) imported as well.
History
Early Soviet period
Russia had no automotive industry prior to the Soviet era. Automobiles were manufactured, but only in small quantity and by importing the main components from abroad.
After the 1917
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
,
Russo-Balt was
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
on August 15, 1918, and renamed to
Prombron
Dartz Motorz Company is a privately held Latvia-based company, subsidiary of Estonian corporation Dartz Grupa OÜ, that designs, manufactures, and sells high performance armored vehicles. The company constituted itself from a renovated former ...
by the new leadership. It continued the production of Russo-Balt cars and launched a new model on October 8, 1922, while AMO built FIAT 15 Ter trucks under licence and released a more modern FIAT-derived truck developed by a team of AMO designers, the
AMO-F-15
The AMO-F-15 was a light truck based on the Italian Fiat 15Ter at the AMO-plant in Moscow in the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s. It was the first Soviet truck to be produced in the first series, with a total of more than 6,000 units made betwe ...
. About 6,000–6,500 F-15s were built in the years 1924–1931.
A
Citroen plant built before the war was allowed to operate as a private business until 1921, when it was nationalized.
The first fully Soviet-made vehicles were manufactured by the
AMO plant in Moscow on 7 November 1924.
In 1927, engineers from the Scientific Automobile & Motor Institute (NAMI) created the first original Soviet car NAMI-I, which was produced in small numbers by the Spartak State Automobile Factory in Moscow, between 1927 and 1931.
In the early decades after the Revolution, Gorky and Moscow became the main centers of motor vehicle manufacturing. As in Western countries, components for the industry were produced in a large number of different places.
Stalinist pressure for rapid industrialization and appreciation for
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
brought about the construction in the late 1920s and early 1930s of massive factories manufacturing highly standard vehicle and slowly changing product lines. Construction of the Moscow (ZIL), Gor‘kiy, and Yaroslavl' plants, partly or totally built by Western firms, increased production from a few thousand vehicles in 1928 to 200,000 vehicles in 1937, nearly all of them trucks.
In 1929, due to a rapidly growing demand for automobiles and in cooperation with its trade partner, the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, the
Supreme Soviet of the National Economy
Supreme Board of the National Economy, Superior Board of the People's Economy, (Высший совет народного хозяйства, ВСНХ, ''Vysshiy sovet narodnogo khozyaystva'', VSNKh) was the superior state institution for managem ...
established
GAZ.
A year later, a second automobile plant was founded in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, which would become a major Soviet car maker after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and earn nationwide fame under the name
Moskvitch
Moskvitch (russian: Москвич) (also written as ''Moskvich'', ''Moskvič'', or ''Moskwitsch'') is a Soviet/Russian automobile brand produced by AZLK from 1946 to 1991 and by OAO Moskvitch from 1991 to 2001 and later returned to production i ...
. However, due to specific government aims and economic hardships of that time, cars were only a small share of all vehicles produced in the early years of Soviet production.
In 1937, the Soviet Union produced over 200,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, putting the country in second place worldwide by production of trucks.
Between 1932 and 1939 the amount of car production in the Soviet Union increased up to 844,6%.
Postwar period
After the war, the Soviet automotive industry developed rapidly. The
State Defense Committee
The State Defense Committee (russian: Государственный комитет обороны - ГКО, translit=Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony - GKO) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War (Gr ...
issued a number of important decisions: it established new car factories in
Kutaisi
Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbil ...
and
Dnepropetrovsk
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
and on August 26, 1945, issued Resolution No. 9905 "On the Restoration and Development of the Automotive Industry", which outlined the future development of car production in the USSR. In 1947, the total number of automobiles produced in the Soviet Union was 132,968, including 9622 cars, 121,248 trucks, 2098 buses, but still did not exceed the pre-war level. Two years later, in 1949, it surpassed the previous record and in 1950 the production was brought up to 363,000 vehicles per year.
1948 marked the beginning of Soviet export of cars. In 1950, cars from the Soviet Union were present at the international car exhibition in
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
, Poland, and soon thereafter were exported to
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
. By the late 1950s, the Soviet Union produced 43 car models, and in 1957 the overall number of vehicles produced was 495,994, which included 113,588 cars, 369,504 trucks, and 12,316 buses, and in the following year reached the level of 600,000 cars per year.
[
]
1960s and 1970s
In the 1960s the Soviets sought to diversify and broaden the motor vehicle industry but continued to rely on massive vertically integrated facilities. Their 15-year transportation modernization plan announced in 1965 called for increasing production of automobiles and heavy trucks to boost consumer welfare and create a larger and more balanced truck fleet.
At the beginning of the 1960s, when MZMA, GAZ and ZAZ were offering a variety of cars and the popularity of having a personal automobile in the Soviet Union was on the rise, the Soviet government opted to build an even larger car manufacturing plant that would produce a people's car and help to meet the demand for personal transport. For reasons of cost-efficiency, it was decided to sign a licence agreement with a foreign company and produce the car on the basis of an existing, modern model. Several options were considered, including Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
, Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...
, Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
and FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
. The Fiat 124
The Fiat 124 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Italian company Fiat between 1966 and 1974. The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and was the basis for several variants including a station wagon, a four-seater coupé ( 124 Sport Co ...
was chosen because of its simple and sturdy design, being easy to manufacture and repair. The plant was built in just 4 years (1966–1970) in the small town of Stavropol Volzhsky, which later grew to a population of more than half a million and was renamed Togliatti to commemorate Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed ("The Best") by his supporters. In 1930 he became a citizen of ...
, the long time head of the Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
(PCI), who died shortly before construction of the plant began.
At the same time, the Izhmash
JSC Kalashnikov Concern (), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital ci ...
car plant was established in the city of Izhevsk
Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city ...
as part of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, with the initiative coming from the Minister of Defence Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov (russian: Дмитрий Фёдорович Устинов; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union and Soviet politician during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee se ...
and in order to increase the overall production of cars in the Soviet Union. It produced Moskvitch
Moskvitch (russian: Москвич) (also written as ''Moskvich'', ''Moskvič'', or ''Moskwitsch'') is a Soviet/Russian automobile brand produced by AZLK from 1946 to 1991 and by OAO Moskvitch from 1991 to 2001 and later returned to production i ...
s and Moskvitch-based ''kombi'' hatchbacks.
By 1970, the manufacture of trucks and other commercial vehicles was decentralized and these were made not only in Moscow and Gorky but also in Belarus (Minsk, Zhodino), Ukraine (Kremenchug), Georgia (Kutaisi), and in the Volga and Ural regions (Ulyanovsk and Miass). The manufacture of automobiles was confined exclusively to Moscow, Gorky, and Izhevsk (Ural region) until the late 1960s.
From 1970 to 1979, automobile production grew by nearly 1 million units per year, and truck production grew by 250,000 per year. The production ratio of automobiles to trucks increased in that time from 0.7 to 1.7, indicating that more attention was being given to the consumer market.
The Soviets reportedly allocated one-half of the estimated 7 billion rubles invested in the automotive industry during 1971-75 to the construction of the Volga car and Kama truck plants. As the 15-year plan was drawing to a close, the Soviets modified their traditional approach of simply building additional plants to raise output. Soviet officials publicly acknowledged the need for continued growth in vehicle production, but they stressed the need for greater productivity and new vehicle designs to improve performance, utility and operating efficiency.
1980s
By the early 1980s, Soviet automobile industry consisted of several main plants, which produced vehicles for various market segments. Prior to 1988, private buyers were also not allowed to buy commercial vehicles like minibuses, vans, trucks or buses for personal use. Domestic car production satisfied only 45% of the domestic demand; nevertheless, no import of cars was permitted.
Post-1991
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in December 1991, automakers of the newly formed Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010 ...
were integrated into a market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
and immediately hit by a crisis due to the loss of financial support, economic turmoil, criminal activities and stiffer competition in the domestic market during the 1990s. Some of them, like AvtoVAZ
AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftoˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ ( rus, ВАЗ), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (russian: Во́лжский автомо� ...
, turned to cooperation with other companies (such as GM-AvtoVAZ) in order to obtain substantial capital investment and overcome the crisis. Few others, like AZLK, became dormant, whereas ZAZ
ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant ( uk, ЗАЗ, Запорізький автомобілебудівний завод, ''Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod'' or ''Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod'') is the main automobile manufacturer of U ...
transformed itself into a new company, UkrAVTO
Ukrainian Automobile Corporation JSC ( uk, Українська Автомобільна Корпорація), or UkrAVTO ( uk, УкрАВТО), is a Ukrainian automobile manufacturing and service company, as well as Ukraine's largest automobil ...
.
Private ownership
There were queues for the purchase of cars and many domestic buyers often had to wait years for a new car. In the 1970s, passenger cars made by VAZ ( Lada) and GAZ (Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
) were the most in demand. Volgas were the most prestigious vehicles sold to private buyers, although up to 60% of the production was reserved for state and party institutions. Always popular and available for sale were Moskvitch
Moskvitch (russian: Москвич) (also written as ''Moskvich'', ''Moskvič'', or ''Moskwitsch'') is a Soviet/Russian automobile brand produced by AZLK from 1946 to 1991 and by OAO Moskvitch from 1991 to 2001 and later returned to production i ...
and Zaporozhets
ZAZ Zaporozhets ( uk, Запоро́жець) was a series of rear-wheel-drive superminis (city cars in their first generation) designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine. Different models of the Zaporozhets, all of whi ...
cars, as well as compact four-wheel-drive LuAZ
LuAZ ( uk, ЛуАЗ, short for ''"Луцький автомобільний завод"'', ''Lutskyi avtomobilnyi zavod''; Lutsk automobile factory) is a Ukrainian automobile manufacturer in the city Lutsk built in the Soviet Union. Since 2009 ...
vehicles. All-terrain cars made by UAZ were not available privately, but could be bought decommissioned. Limousine brands Chaika (GAZ factory) and ZIL were not available for the general public.
List of manufacturers
The bulk of the automotive industry of the Soviet Union, with annual production approaching 1.8 million units, was located in Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
was second, at more than 200,000 units per year, Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...
was third at 40,000. Other Soviet republics (SSRs) did not have significant automotive industries. Only the first two republics produced all types of automobiles.
With the exception of ZAZ and LuAZ, which were located in the Ukrainian SSR, all the aforementioned companies were located in the RSFSR. Besides the RSFSR, some truck plants were established in Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Georgian, Armenian, and Kyrghizian SSRs while buses were produced in the Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Tajik republics.
Armenian SSR
* ErAZ (1964–2002) produced RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
-based panel vans and minibuses.
Azerbaijan SSR
* BakAZ (1978–1993) produced PAZ-based small buses
* KiAZ (1986–present)
Byelorussian SSR
*BelAZ
BelAZ ( be, Беларускі аўтамабільны завод, translit=Belaruski autamabilny zavod, lit=Belarusian Automobile Plant, russian: Белорусский автомобильный завод or БелАЗ) is a Belarusian aut ...
(1948–present) manufactured super-heavy trucks
* MAZ (1944–present) manufactured heavy trucks
*MoAZ
Mogilvskiy Avtomobilny Zavod imeni S. M. Kirova, abbreviated MoAZ, ( be, Магілёўскі аўтамабільны завод (МаАЗ)/russian: Могилевский автомобильный завод имени С. М. Кирова (MoA ...
(1948–present)
*MZKT
MZKT (''МЗКТ'' or ''МЗКЦ'', be, Мінскі завод колавых цягачоў, , Minsk Wheel(ed) Tractor Plant (MWTP)) is a manufacturer of heavy off-road vehicles, especially military trucks, based in Minsk, in Belarus; it was ...
(1954–present) in Soviet times, was a division of MAZ, a manufacturer of heavy and super-heavy trucks
*Neman
The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ; ...
(1984–present) from 1990 started limited production of LiAZ
LiAZ () is a bus manufacturing company located in Likino-Dulyovo, Russia. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GAZ. Specializes in designing and manufacturing buses large and extra large class (length 10.5 m and +).
Starting in 2015, the ...
-based buses
Estonian SSR
* ToARZ
* Estonia (race car)
Georgian SSR
* KAZ (1945–present, truck production ceased in the 1990s) produced backbone tractors with a comfortable cabin, but low quality and dynamic characteristics and had gained in the Soviet Union a bad reputation. Were gradually replaced by tractors MAZ and, later, KaMAZ
Kirghiz SSR
* Frunze Auto-assembly Plant
Latvian SSR
*RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(1949–1998) produced vans and ambulances on their base
Lithuanian SSR
* KAG (1956–1979) produced minibuses based on the GAZ-51
The GAZ-51 (nickname ''Gazon'') was a Soviet truck manufactured by GAZ. Its first prototypes were produced before the end of World War II and has been influenced by Studebaker US6. The mass production started in 1946.
A 2.5 ton 4×2 standard var ...
chassis
* VFTS produced rally cars on Lada chassis
Russian SFSR
*Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China (Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long ...
(1967-2012, until 2004 UAMZ)
* AvtoKuban (1962-2001) manufactured small buses
*AvtoVAZ
AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftoˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ ( rus, ВАЗ), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (russian: Во́лжский автомо� ...
(aka Lada, 1966–present) produced up to 800,000 cars annually; created in cooperation with Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
, it started with the production of the Zhiguli brand, which started as licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
and upgraded variants of the Fiat 124
The Fiat 124 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Italian company Fiat between 1966 and 1974. The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and was the basis for several variants including a station wagon, a four-seater coupé ( 124 Sport Co ...
or Fiat-derived models and later developed cars entirely of its own design, such as the VAZ-2108/2109/21099, the VAZ-2121, and the VAZ-1111
The Lada Оkа (VAZ-1111, SeAZ-1111, КаmАZ-1111, Astro 11301) (russian: Ока (ВАЗ-1111, СеАЗ-1111, КамАЗ-1111)) is a city car designed in the Soviet Union in the later part of the seventies by AvtoVAZ. It entered production in 1 ...
.
*AZLK
AZLK (''АЗЛК - Автомобильный завод имени Ленинского Комсомола'' in Russian, Avtomobilny Zavod imeni Leninskogo Komsomola) Soviet and Russian automobile manufacturer ( Moscow), the maker of the Moskv ...
(Moskvitch
Moskvitch (russian: Москвич) (also written as ''Moskvich'', ''Moskvič'', or ''Moskwitsch'') is a Soviet/Russian automobile brand produced by AZLK from 1946 to 1991 and by OAO Moskvitch from 1991 to 2001 and later returned to production i ...
, 1929-2001, closed in 2010), originally part of GAZ, built durable and easily repairable cars of similar class as VAZ and of its own design (since 1956), but in a significantly smaller numbers (up to 200,000). All of its cars produced between 1946 and 2001 were known under the name Moskvitch.
* BAZ (1958–present) manufactured military superheavy trucks.
* GAZ (Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
, 1932–present) produced light trucks, Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
business-class sedans, which were also used as taxi cabs, and luxury automobiles such as the Chaika for Soviet officials (up to 100,000 cars annually).
* IzhAvto (1967–present, the assembly plant AvtoVAZ since 2012), another manufacturer of Moskvitch small family cars and pickups often used by delivery services (produced up to 200,000 annually).
* KamAZ (1969–present) manufactured heavy 6×4 trucks.
*KAvZ
KAvZ (russian: Курганский автобусный завод (КАвЗ), Kurgansky Avtobusny Zavod, Kurgan Bus Plant) is a bus manufacturer in Kurgan, KGN, Russia. The factory started producing buses in 1958, based on truck
A ...
(1958–present) produced conventional small buses on the basis of GAZ trucks, used as company vehicles and for passenger transport in the countryside on roads of poor quality.
* KZKT (1950–2011) manufactured superheavy trucks on MAZ chassis
*LiAZ
LiAZ () is a bus manufacturing company located in Likino-Dulyovo, Russia. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GAZ. Specializes in designing and manufacturing buses large and extra large class (length 10.5 m and +).
Starting in 2015, the ...
(1937–present) (not to be confused with the Czechoslovak brand trucks LIAZ
LiAZ () is a bus manufacturing company located in Likino-Dulyovo, Russia. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GAZ. Specializes in designing and manufacturing buses large and extra large class (length 10.5 m and +).
Starting in 2015, the ...
) manufactured large city buses.
*NefAZ
Neftekamsk Automotive Plant (''NEFAZ'', russian: Нефтекамский автозавод) is a Russian manufacturer of buses and machinery on KamAZ chassis located in Neftekamsk in Bashkortostan.
History
17 December 1970 the Council of Min ...
(1972–present) produced KaMAZ vehicles. Since 2000, it also builds large city buses based on KaMAZ chassis.
* PAZ (1932–present) manufactured small buses
*Prombron (1922–1926), which had acquired control over the former Russo-Balt factory in Fili, produced a small number of modernised Russo-Balt S24 cars. Two of them took part in the All-Russian test run of 1923.
*SMZ, later SeAZ
SeAZ (russian: Серпуховский автомобильный завод, Serpukhovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, Serpukhov Automobile Plant) was a large engineering plant in Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, Russia. From 1939 to 1995, the company was called ...
(1939–present, car production stopped in 2008), built cyclecar
A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key c ...
s for the disabled. SMZ cars were distributed in the USSR for free or purchased at a large discount through the Soviet Union's social welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
system.
* UAZ (1941–present) produced light four-wheel-drive vehicles for either military or agricultural use.
*UralAZ
The Urals Automotive Plant, an Open Stock Company, (Russian: ''Ура́льский автомоби́льный заво́д, УралАЗ''; translit. Uralskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod, UralAZ) is a major Russian manufacturer of off-road trucks und ...
(1941–present) manufactured general purpose off-road
Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...
6x6 trucks for use in the Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
.
*ZiL
OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia.
The la ...
(former ZiS and AMO, 1916–2016) built middle trucks, luxury sedans and limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.
A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...
s used as official state cars.
* ZMA (1987–present) produced Oka
Oka or OKA may refer to:
Cars
* Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ
* OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA
Military
* 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mort ...
cars
Tajik SSR
* Сhkalovsk Bus Plant (1960–1995)
Ukrainian SSR
* Chasiv Yar Repair Plant (1958–present)
*KrAZ
KrAZ ( uk, Кременчуцький автомобільний завод, ''Kremenchutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Kremenchuk Automobile Plant, АвтоКрА́З or AvtoKrAZ) is a Ukrainian factory that produces trucks and other special-purpos ...
(1958–present) (truck production of the Yaroslavl Motor Plant
OJSC «Autodiesel» (ОАО «Автоди́зель») known as the Yaroslavl Motor Plant (YaMZ), Russian: Яросла́вский мото́рный заво́д (ЯМЗ), romanized: Yaroslavskyi Motornyi Zavod (YaMZ), based in Yaroslavl, Russi ...
at Kremenchuk Harvester Plant) manufactured heavy trucks
* OdAZ (1948–2013)
* LAZ (1945–2015) produced suburban and intercity buses of middle class.
*LuAZ
LuAZ ( uk, ЛуАЗ, short for ''"Луцький автомобільний завод"'', ''Lutskyi avtomobilnyi zavod''; Lutsk automobile factory) is a Ukrainian automobile manufacturer in the city Lutsk built in the Soviet Union. Since 2009 ...
(1955–present) produced compact four-wheel-drive vehicles (up to 17,000 annually)
* Lugansk Auto Repair Plant (1944–2011)
* Sievierodonetsk Auto Repair Plant (1962–present)
*ZAZ
ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant ( uk, ЗАЗ, Запорізький автомобілебудівний завод, ''Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod'' or ''Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod'') is the main automobile manufacturer of U ...
(1923–present) built Zaporozhets
ZAZ Zaporozhets ( uk, Запоро́жець) was a series of rear-wheel-drive superminis (city cars in their first generation) designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine. Different models of the Zaporozhets, all of whi ...
and Tavria subcompact budget cars (as many as 150,000 annually)
See also
*Automotive industry by country
This article provides an overview of the automotive industry in countries around the world.
The United States was the world's largest automobile producer by volume from the early years of the 20th century until the 1980s, when it was overtaken by ...
*Ministry of the Automotive Industry (Soviet Union)
The Ministry of the Automotive Industry (Minavtoprom; russian: Министерство автомобильной промышленности СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union.
The Ministry of the Automotive industry operat ...
References
External links
*
The Soviet Motor Vehicle Industry
- 1986 CIA report
{{Automotive industry
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
Industry in the Soviet Union