PSA Bronto () was a Russian company focused on the production of special vehicles and SUVs. It was established in 1993 and closed in 2015. While in operation, it was closely associated with

AvtoVAZ AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftɐˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ (), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of ...

. The Bronto badging is still used.

History

In 1993, the car company PSA Bronto was established as part of the AvtoVAZ research center for the production of special armored vehicles and SUVs on the platform of the

Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) Off-road vehicle, off-road cars designed and produced by AvtoVAZ sinc ...

. The following year, more than 200 copies of this model were sold, which allowed the company to begin work on new projects.History of the Bronto brand
/carobka.ru Lada Bronto Marsh-1 (1922-00) was one of the few mass-produced vehicles on massive balloon tires. Developing the model of AvtoVAZ's leading engineer, Pyotr Prusov, the company created the all-terrain vehicle Marsh-1, a

swamp buggy A swamp buggy, also known as a marsh buggy, is a motor vehicle used to traverse boggy swamp terrain. Swamp buggies may be purpose-built buggies or vehicles modified to traverse swamp terrain. Swamp buggies are capable of traveling through or over ...

vehicle, which became a real sensation at the auto show held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1995. This car is designed to work in specific conditions that are associated with overcoming marshy swamps, deep snows, sand dunes. Its first copies went to

Surgut Surgut ( rus, Сургу́т, p=sʊrˈgut; Khanty: Сәрханӆ, ''Sərhanł, Сө̆ркут, sörkut'') is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River near its junction with the Irtysh River. It is one of the fe ...

and

Nadym Nadym () is a town in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the river Nadym. The population has fluctuated over time: Etymology There are three several translations from the Nenets language: # ''"nyadey ya"'' – mossy place # ' ...

. In 2002, more than 30 SUVs 192200 "March" were purchased by the government of

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

. In 1996, the cooperation of PSA Bronto with

Sberbank of Russia The Public JSC Sberbank (, initially a contraction of ) is a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services company headquartered in Moscow. As the Russian successor entity of the State Labor Savings Banks System of the USSR, it was ...

began, for which the company manufactured 500 cash armored vehicles. Having continued in new modifications in 2002 on the Nadezhda platform "Bronto-212090" and on the Lada Niva platform "Bronto-213102". In 2004, the Bronto-194900 model was released on the Chevrolet Niva platform for collection. In 2002, on the platform of the

Lada Nadezhda The Lada Nadezhda or VAZ-2120 "Nadezhda" ("Hope", also a Slavic female name) (Ru:Лада Надежда) is a seven-person four-wheel-drive minivan, produced by the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ in 1998-2006. The VAZ-2120 was the first minivan pro ...

and Lada Niva, a modification of the Marsh-2 all-terrain vehicle was created. Its interior allowed eight passengers to comfortably accommodate: two people were placed in the front seats, and six - in the rear. At the same time, the rear seats were quickly transformed into sleeping ones, which made it possible to transport patients and victims. The car was equipped with two fuel tanks of 70 liters each, and its design made it possible to install VAZ gasoline and diesel power units on a car. The first customers of the new modification were JSC Centrenergo RAO UES of Russia. In 2005, PSA Bronto launched the "Landole" open car based on the Niva, designed by Sergey Samoilov. The company also developed an

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

prototype, "Brontokar". In 2009, PSA Bronto introduced a new SUV in camouflaged army paint, on the Niva Lynx platform, which was continued in the Niva-Lynx1, Niva-Lynx2 and Niva-Lynx3 series. The latest Lynx-3 series is also known as the Niva Bronto 213102-771-40 Force Comdiv. In 2012, VIS-AUTO absorbed PSA Bronto.Four wheels: AvtoVAZ heritage
/ref> The PSA Bronto company was officially dissolved on 1 January 2015.

Continuing usage of the Bronto badging

In 2021, AvtoVAZ announced a new Bronto-badged vehicle as a top trim for the Lada Niva Legend. VIS-AUTO and AvtoVAZ partnered on production, with the former taking charge of main assembly and the latter of welding and painting.

References

External links

PSA Bronto official site
{{Automotive industry in Russia Car brands Truck manufacturers of Russia Off-road vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Mini sport utility vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1977 Companies based in Samara Oblast AvtoVAZ Car manufacturers of Russia