History of the automobile brand ZAZ
Automotive brand stories

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

Zaporizhzhya Automobile Building Plant (abbreviation ZAZ) is an enterprise for the production of automobiles, built during the Soviet era on the territory of Ukraine in the city of Zaporozhye. The production vector focuses on cars, buses and vans.

There are several versions of creating a plant:

The first is based on the fact that initially a plant was created whose specialization was the production of agricultural machinery. This company was founded by Dutch industrialist Abraham Coop in 1863.

In the second variation, the foundation date falls to 1908 with the founding of the Melitopol Motor Plant, which in the future was the supplier of the produced power units to ZAZ.

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

The third option is related to 1923, when the company specializing in agricultural machinery Koopa changed its name to Kommunar.

Nikita Khrushchov came up with the idea of ​​starting car production at this plant. The first releases of cars were small-sized identical to the "Khrushchev ideology" in the embodiment of small-sized apartments of that time.

Already in the autumn of 1958, the government of the USSR adopted a resolution to change the production vector of Kommunar from agricultural machinery to the creation of small cars.

The process of designing future car models has begun. The main principles of production were compactness, small displacement, simplicity and lightness of the car. The model of the Italian company Fiat was taken as a prototype for the future model.

The creation of the car began in 1956 and the next year the model 444 was released. The famous Moskvich 444 corresponded to almost all the characteristics of the prototype model. Initially, the model was planned to be assembled at the Moscow plant MZMA, but due to the heavy load, the project was transferred to Kommunar.

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

A few years later, the production of another subcompact model began, the ZAZ 965 car was popularly nicknamed “Humpbacked”, due to the body. And behind him, one model ZAZ 966 was also produced, but she saw the world only 6 years later due to economic considerations of the authorities, who considered it unthinkable generosity to produce cars annually.

According to history, each new released model was tested in Kryml by the government, at that time Nikita Khrushchev was the chairman of the Council of Ministers. At one such event, the 965 was named "Zaporozhets".

In 1963, the idea of ​​designing a small car with front-wheel drive was laid. The organizer of this idea was engineer Vladimir Stoshenko and several models were produced in a few years. Also, in addition to the production of cars, the production of vans and trucks began.

In 1987 the famous "Tavria" saw the world.

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

After the collapse of the USSR, financial problems began in ZAZ. It was decided to find a partner in the person of a foreign company and organize their own company. Cooperation with Daewoo became an important moment in the history of the company. And ZAZ began assembling models of this company under license.

And in 2003, two significant events took place: the company changed its form of ownership and now became CJSC Zaporozhye Automobile Building Plant and the conclusion of a contract with the German automobile company Opel.

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

This cooperation greatly affected the production of automobiles, as new technologies of the German company were opened up. The production process has improved significantly.

In addition to the production of Daewoo and Opel cars, the production of cars of the KIA concern started in 2009.

In 2017, the production of cars was stopped, but the production of spare parts did not stop. And in 2018 he was declared bankrupt.

Founder

The Zaporozhye Automobile Building Plant was created by the authorities of the USSR.

Emblem

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

The ZAZ emblem has an oval with a silver metal frame inside which there are two metal stripes going from the bottom of the left side of the oval up to the right. Initially, the emblem was presented as the personification of the Zaporozhye hydroelectric power station.

History of ZAZ cars

In the fall of 1960, ZAZ released the ZAZ 965 model. The originality of the body brought him fame with the nickname "Hunchback".

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

In 1966, the ZAZ 966 came out with a sedan body with a 30-horsepower engine, a little later there was a modified version equipped with a 40-horsepower power unit, capable of speeds up to 125 km / h.

ZAZ 970 was a truck with a small lift. Also in that period of time, the 970B van and the 970 V model, a minibus with 6 seats, were produced.

The last “domestic” car with a motor located in the rear compartment was the ZAZ 968M model. The design of the car was outdated and very simple, which called the model among the people "Soapbox".

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

In 1976, a front-wheel drive sedan was developed and a hatchback car equipped with all-wheel drive was developed. These two models became the basis for the creation of "Tavria".

1987 was the debut of the same "Tavria" in the ZAZ 1102 model, which has a nice design and a budget price.

1988 was designed by "Slavuta" on the basis of "Tavria", equipped with a sedan body.

For factory needs, a modification of the model 1991 M - 968 PM was produced in 968, equipped with a pickup truck body without a rear cab.

History of the automobile brand ZAZ

Cooperation with Daewoo resulted in the release of models such as ZAZ 1102/1103/1105 (Tavria, Slavuta, Dana).

Questions and answers:

What does ZAZ 2021 produce? In 2021, the Zaporozhye Automobile Plant produces new buses for the region, and also produces the ZAZ A09 “suburban” model bus. The peculiarity of this bus is in the engine and transmission from Mercedes-Benz.

What cars does ZAZ auto produce? This plant began to assemble Lada Vesta, X-Ray and Largus. In addition to the development of new ZAZ models and the production of buses, the French Renault Arkana crossovers are assembled at the plant.

When did ZAZ close? The last domestic car with a rear-engined layout ZAZ-968M was released in 1994 (July 1). In 2018, the plant stopped assembling Ukrainian cars. The workshops were rented by different manufacturers to assemble different models.

Add a comment