TagAZ (russian: ТагАЗ, Таганрогский автомобильный завод, Taganrogskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod, Taganrog Automobile Factory) was an automotive assembly plant located in

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. An affiliated enterprise is the Rostov Truck Factory. On January 21, 2014, the company was declared bankrupt.

History

Construction of the Taganrog Automotive Plant began in spring 1997, under license and technology of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Daewoo Motors Daewoo Motors ( ) was a South Korean automotive company established in 1937 as "National Motors". The company changed its name several times until 1982 when it became "Daewoo Motors" following its acquisition by the Daewoo Group. After running ...

, and was fully financed by

Doninvest Doninvest (russian: Финансово-Промышленная Группа Донинвест) was a Russian industrial group that manufactured cars in Taganrog and Aksay, Rostov Oblast. The firm produced Daewoo cars on license for the Russian ...

Finance & Industry Group, with investment volumes surpassing US$260 million. In 1998, Doninvest launched pilot semi-knocked-down production of the

Daewoo Lanos The Daewoo Lanos is a compact / sedan car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Daewoo from 1997 to 2002, and thereafter produced under license agreements in various countries worldwide. It has also been marketed as the Daewoo Sens, ZAZ Se ...

and

Daewoo Nubira Daewoo Nubira is a compact car which was produced by the South Korean automaker Daewoo from 1997 to 2002 as a 4-door sedan, 5-door hatchback and a 5-door station wagon. Development The Daewoo Nubira (J100 platform) was released in 1997 ref ...

models. From 1999 to 2002, the company assembled the

Citroën Berlingo The Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner are a range of multi-purpose vehicles produced by the PSA Group and later by Stellantis. They are sold both as panel vans for use as commercial vehicles and as a passenger variant with rear seats and win ...

Mk I model under the name Orion M. In 2001, it started producing the

Hyundai Accent The Hyundai Accent ( ko, 현대 엑센트), or Hyundai Verna (현대 베르나) is a subcompact car produced by Hyundai. In Australia, the first generation models carried over the Hyundai Excel name used by the Accent's predecessor. The Accen ...

(LC), followed in 2004 by the

Hyundai Sonata The Hyundai Sonata is a mid-size car that has been manufactured by Hyundai since 1985. The first generation Sonata, which was introduced in 1985, was a facelifted Hyundai Stellar with an engine upgrade, and was withdrawn from the market in two y ...

(EF), in 2008 by the

Hyundai Elantra The Hyundai Elantra, also known as the Hyundai Avante ( ko, 현대 아반떼), is a compact car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 1990. The Elantra was initially marketed as the ''Lantra'' in Australia and some European m ...

(XD), and in 2005 by the

Hyundai Porter The Hyundai Porter (Hangul:현대 포터), also known as the Hyundai H-100, is a cabover truck produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 1977. History First generation (1977–1981) The first generation, launched in January ...

(third generation) light truck. In 2008, it started production of the

Hyundai Santa Fe The Hyundai Santa Fe ( ko, 현대 싼타페) is a sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 2000. It is named after the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was introduced for the 2001 model year as Hyundai ...

(SM). In the spring of 2012, production of the Hyundai models was over. In 2008, it began assembly from semi-knocked-down kits of the Vortex Estina (a rebadged Chery A5). In 2010, TagAZ announced the construction of a third automotive manufacturing plant in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

, with an initial $2 billion investment. According to TagAZ officials, the decision to build cars in Bangladesh was made because of its low labour costs and the export advantages it enjoys with neighbouring countries and Europe. TagAZ had already purchased land in the

Kishoreganj District Kishoreganj ( bn, কিশোরগঞ্জ) is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a Mohkuma (মহকুমা) under the Mymensingh district. It was taken 2495.07 sq. km of land from Mymensingh district to form pre ...

and aimed to sell the first car assembled there by 2012. In October 2010, TagAZ started assembling the

BYD F3 The BYD F3 is a compact car that was produced by BYD and was one of the top selling compact cars in China. Production of the first generation model commenced in September 2005, and facelifts were done in 2014 and 2016 with a few variants spawned ...

, Vortex Corda (a modified Chery Amulet), and Vortex Tingo (modified Chery Tiggo) models. In June 2011, the company began assembly from complete-knocked-down kits of the Tagaz C10 (a rebadged version of the

JAC Tojoy The JAC Heyue Tongyue (aka JAC J3) is a subcompact sedan and hatchback produced by JAC Motors in the early 2000s under the Heyue brand in China. Prices as sales began ranged from 52,800 to 58,800 yuan for the sedan and started at 54,800 yuan for ...

). In October 2011, the Tagaz C190 (a rebadged version of the

JAC Rein The JAC Rein (瑞鹰) is a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by Chinese automaker JAC Motors since 2007. Overview The JAC Rein was originally launched as the JAC Eagle. The new name Rein in Chinese is 瑞鹰, Ruiying, meaning ‘Lucky ...

) was added to the line-up. At one point, the company reached the capacity to simultaneously produce up to 20 different models at its facilities.

Owners and executives

TagAZ's owner was Russian entrepreneur M. Y. Paramonov, CEO of the financial-industrial

group. One-fifth of TagAZ shares were held by Sapor Invest Inc., Ikaria International Technologies Aktiengesellschaft, Pemberton Establishment, Asha Holding, and Dl Technologies GmbH.

Production capacity

The TagAZ factory at Taganrog covers an area of 60,000 m² and is divided into 5 departments: * Welding body shop * Paint shop * Assembly shop (4 lines) * Electroplating shop * Functional testing shop The conveyor line is laid out vertically over four floors of the main plant building, with a network of elevators and lifts linking the different levels. Each level is equipped with a monorail as well as compact lifting and transporting equipment. All completed vehicles undergo a road test on a track made up of varied road surfaces.

Performance

The current yearly production regime is 180,000 units of six different vehicle models.

Model lineup

TagAZ-owned brands

Over its lifetime TagAZ used three different brands:

Doninvest

Under the brand Doninvest (licensed copies of Daewoo ) * Doninvest Kondor (

Daewoo Leganza The Daewoo Leganza is an executive sedan car that was manufactured and marketed by the automobile manufacturer Daewoo. The Leganza was available as a four-door Sedan with front engine, front-wheel drive, four door, five passenger sedan of type of ...

) * Doninvest Orion (

) * Doninvest Assol (

) * Doninvest Aksaj Dozor (buggy based on

Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (russian: link=no, ВАЗ-2121, ВАЗ-2131, Лада Нива), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) off-road c ...

)

Vortex

Vortex (rebadged

Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui, China. Founded in 1997, it is cur ...

) * Vortex Estina, rebadged from the

Chery A5 The Chery A5 is a compact car produced by the Chinese manufacturer Chery from 2006 to 2010. This car heavily resembles the third-generation Nissan Altima, despite being unrelated. A facelifted variant of the A5 called the Cowin 3 was produced fr ...

* Vortex Estina FL-C, rebadged from the

Chery E5 The Chery E5 is a compact car produced by the Chinese manufacturer Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile ma ...

* Vortex Corda, rebadged from the

Chery Amulet The Chery A15 (), also known as Cowin, Flagcloud or Amulet, is a subcompact car produced by the Chinese manufacturer Chery from 2003 to 2010. A facelifted variant was called the Cowin 2 and was sold from 2010 to 2016. Overview It is based on a re ...

* Vortex Tingo, rebadged from the

Chery Tiggo The Chery Tiggo () is a series of crossover SUVs produced by the Chinese manufacturer Chery Automobile since 2005 (debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show). The first model, Tiggo 3 was originally named Tiggo and was facelifted in September 2010 w ...

File:Vortex logo.svg, Vortex logo File:Chery A5 aka Vortex Estina.jpg, Chery A5 aka Vortex Estina.

TagAZ

TagAZ * TagAZ Tager, rebadged from the

SsangYong Korando The SsangYong Korando ( Korean: 쌍용 코란도) is a mini SUV or compact crossover SUV built by the South Korean automobile manufacturer SsangYong from 1983 to 2006 and from 2010 onwards. The name Korando is a contraction of "Korea Can Do". T ...

* TagAZ Road Partner, rebadged from the

SsangYong Musso The SsangYong Musso (Korean: 쌍용 무쏘) is a mid-sized SUV or pickup truck manufactured by the South Korean automaker SsangYong from 1993. The Musso SUV was a result of collaboration between SsangYong and Daimler-Benz. The car's design ...

* TagAZ C10, rebadged from the

* TagAZ C190, rebadged from the

TagAZ Aquila The Tagaz AQUiLA (Ru:ТагАЗ Аквилла) (Latin for Eagle) is a compact car formerly produced by TagAZ, now defunct, in Taganrog, Russia. The Aquila is marketed by TagAZ as a " four-door coupe". The car is powered by a 107 hp Mitsubis ...

* 2009–2012

TagAZ Vega TagAZ (russian: ТагАЗ, Таганрогский автомобильный завод, Taganrogskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod, Taganrog Automobile Factory) was an automotive assembly plant located in Taganrog, Russia. An affiliated enterprise is th ...

- this claimed own development was accused of being a copy of the

Chevrolet Lacetti The Daewoo Lacetti is a compact car manufactured and marketed globally by GM Korea since 2002. The first-generation Lacetti was available as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon, styled by Pininfarina—and five-door hatchback styled ...

; as a result TagAZ lost the rights to export the Vega and their joint venture with

Ssangyong The SsangYong Motor Company ( ko, 쌍용자동차 주식회사) is a South Korea–based automobile manufacturer. It traces its origins back to a manufacturer established in 1954. The name SsangYong appeared in 1988, after its acquisition by the ...

was dissolved * TagAZ Master *

TagAZ Hardy TagAZ (russian: ТагАЗ, Таганрогский автомобильный завод, Taganrogskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod, Taganrog Automobile Factory) was an automotive assembly plant located in Taganrog, Russia. An affiliated enterprise is th ...

light truck File:Tagaz_Tager.jpg, TagAZ Tager 3 door File:Tagaz_Tager_5_door.JPG, TagAZ Tager 5 door File:Tagaz Vega.JPG, TagAZ Vega File:Tagaz Master vehicle. 2010, Russia, Moscow.jpg, TagAZ Master

TagAZ produced foreign brands

TagAZ assembled the following foreign brands from knock-down kits:

Hyundai brand

LC *

EF *

III *

XD *

SM *

Hyundai County The Hyundai County (hangul:현대 카운티) is a single-decker minibus manufactured by the truck & bus division of Hyundai. It was introduced in 1998 as a successor to the Chorus. It is primarily available as city buses and tourist buses. It ...

Hyundai Trago The Hyundai Trago (hangul:현대 트라고) is a line of heavy-duty commercial vehicle by Hyundai Motor Company in luxury commercial vehicle. The range was primarily available as luxury cargo and dump truck, tractor. Its model truck name is 'Hyun ...

Xcient

BYD brand

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{Automotive industry in Russia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1997 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Russia Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2014 Companies based in Rostov Oblast