(GAZ) is now the largest enterprise in the Russian automotive industry, which is part of the GAZ Group automobile holding. Produces the widest range of trucks, special equipment, auto components.
The resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) of the USSR on the construction of a large automobile plant near Nizhny Novgorod was adopted on April 6, 1929. On May 31, the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR signed an agreement with the American firm Ford Motor Company on technical assistance in organizing and establishing mass production of Ford-A passenger cars and Ford-AA trucks.
The technological and construction design of the car plant was carried out in the USA mainly by the forces of Soviet engineers in close cooperation with the Ford Motor Company. The architectural and construction project was developed by Austin & K.
On May 2, 1930, near Nizhny Novgorod, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the future automobile plant, and by November 1, 1931, construction was basically completed. The car plant received the best domestic equipment and machine tools, presses, machines from the USA and European countries (Germany, England, Italy, France) at that time. For the launch of the first stage, 4.5 thousand different units, eight thousand electric motors were installed.
In 1994, the plant began production of new light commercial vehicles GAZ-3302 "GAZelle", in 2010 - the modernized vehicle "GAZelle-BUSINESS".
In 2011, the plant developed a new line of Ermak agricultural vehicles. In 2013, the production of cars of the new NEXT family began with the release of a light commercial vehicle "GAZelle NEXT". Based on the basic model, by 2016 a full line of commercial vehicles with a gross weight of 2.8 to 5.0 tons was created.
Over the years, the auto plants have developed more than 40 basic models of trucks and cars, as well as military and special vehicles and buses, hundreds of their modifications and experimental designs. The plant has produced over 18 million cars and trucks.
Gorky Automobile Plant today - the key enterprise of the GAZ Group - produces light and medium-tonnage commercial vehicles (minibuses, vans and combi vans, chassis, flatbed vehicles), over 300 types of special equipment, as well as auto components (PowerTrain systems, control systems, body elements, tooling, forging parts, cast iron and non-ferrous casting). The most popular car brands of the plant are GAZelle, Sobol, Valdai and Sadko.
In addition to the development and production of its own model range of cars, GAZ cooperates with international car manufacturers Volkswagen and Daimler. Since 2013, GAZ has been producing Škoda Yeti, Volkswagen Jetta and Škoda Octavia cars, as well as Mercedes-Benz Sprinter commercial vehicles in contract assembly mode.
The company's products are sold in Russia, the CIS countries and far abroad. The share of GAZ in the Russian market of light commercial vehicles is about 50%, in the segment of medium-duty trucks - about 70%.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
At the end of the twenties of the past, an unpleasant picture developed in the USSR: it was necessary to build socialism (so that later on to proceed directly to communism), and there was nothing to transport bricks. You can, of course, on a horse, but during the period of industrialization, this animal with its proud appearance discredited the power of the working people. The only possible decision was made: to build our own automobile plant.
It goes without saying that building a large plant in a short time, without having any experience, is practically impossible. And then the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR and the American firm Ford Motor Company entered into an agreement on assistance in launching mass production of cars in the Soviet Union. Ford was not chosen by chance: the cost of cars at this company was then minimal, the cars were reliable and simple, and Ford probably knew everything about the mass scale.
But first the plant itself had to be built. It was designed by the Albert Kahn Architectural Bureau, and the construction was supervised by Austin. Of course, all of these firms were American.
But do not think that overseas assistants hunched over with shovels and wheelbarrows at the construction site. No, our people physically worked here. And the work was really extremely hard, almost manual. Nevertheless, the pace of construction turned out to be simply incredible: the plant was ready in just 18 months, and already in January 1932, the first one and a half-ton truck NAZ-AA rolled off the assembly line, which later became better known among the people as a lorry. Why was it called NAZ? Because the plant was then Nizhny Novgorod, and it became Gorky in 1933.
The plant's nomenclature expanded rapidly. Even a listing of the machines developed by the Gazans before the start of the Great Patriotic War would take up a lot of space. But I will note that they were all based on the good old GAZ-A and. On the old - because for the Americans they were already old by that time, on the good - because we had nothing better anyway.
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Shortly before the termination of cooperation with the Americans in 1935, the factory workers received documentation for the Ford Model B. This car was the basis for the GAZ-M-1 ("Molotovets-1", aka "Emka"), the production of which began in 1936. Outwardly, Ford V and "Emka" are very similar, but there are many differences in them. However, today I have no mood to analyze what was copied there (legally and illegally) at GAZ, what was done better and what was worse. This is a topic for long philosophical conversations in the garage. You need to spread a newspaper on the hood of the old Volga, cut the sausage, pour one hundred grams and throw a bunch of arguments of varying degrees of reliability at each other. And then whip your opponent on the cheeks with a cylinder head gasket from the GAZ-11 engine, one to one similar to ... Hmm, okay, let's not. It's a holiday after all.
The workers of the plant managed to do the almost impossible: in the middle of April 1935, the one hundred thousandth car was assembled. For the company, as well as for the country as a whole, it was an incredible success. The development of another bestseller has already begun, but the war has begun.
The plant was reoriented for military needs. They produced the first light off-road vehicles, trucks, tanks, self-propelled artillery installations, armored cars, mortars, shells for “Katyushas” ... Of course, the German invaders could not look at this calmly. And the plant became a target for bombers. They bombed a lot, purposefully, persistently. They suffered losses from Soviet air defense systems, but still flew to throw bombs. And in the summer of 1943, the assembly line production still had to be stopped.
The plant was badly damaged. According to various estimates, about fifty buildings of the enterprise were destroyed. But in the history of the plant there was another feat: it was restored in a hundred days and production was restarted. Of course, all this was not done in full: it was necessary, for example, to abandon the production of three-axle GAZ-AAA trucks and armored cars.
GAZ-51, 46 years old, State. tests. Car rally on the Baydarsky Pass in Crimea But after the war, the plant “fired” a whole salvo of vehicles that later became iconic. It's simple , …
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The period from the early sixties to the early eighties was no less productive. Here GAZ also pleased Soviet citizens both in the segment of trucks and in the segment of passenger cars. If you have never heard anything about GAZ-53, "shishiga" GAZ-66,, then finish your lessons and fold your portfolio. These cars are known to every Russian person, and during this period GAZ became the main supplier of auto legends of the Soviet Union.
In 1981, the ten millionth GAZ was already released. But the following decades were not entirely successful for GAZ.
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If GAZ was able to produce several more epic trucks in the “pre-gazelle” era (for example, GAZ-3307 and then GAZ-3309), then with cars the picture turned out to be sad. You can shower me with rusty pivots, but the endless alterations of the 24th Volga were not very successful. Something fundamentally new was needed, but during this period GAZ could not (or did not want) to engage in a new passenger car.
True, in the 90s, the production of the Volga increased significantly: the people, according to old memory, considered this car prestigious, and then it suddenly became very inexpensive to cost. But for a long time, on the remnants of its former glory, the Volga could not last, and the new GAZ-3103, 3104 and the business-class sedan 3105: there was no money for this, and it was very difficult for these cars to compete with the foreign cars that flooded into the Russian market.
Let's omit everything that GAZ did for the military, and what it tried to do, but could not until the mid-90s. We'd better turn our attention to 1994. It was then that the plant practically revived its own, setting up the production of GAZelle. For 11 years, the first million of these cars were produced. And Gazelle became a real guardian angel of the plant, preventing it from dying in the difficult 90s. The developing business really needed just such a car, and the demand for it was very high. Then a minibus appeared at the Gazelle base, and again it was not an eyebrow hit, but in the eye: a huge number of fixed-route taxis appeared.
The gazelles fully corresponded to the typical Russian principle of “buy cheaper, load more, take further away” (and they still do). Yes, they rusted wildly, did not differ in high build quality, did not greatly please the eye already in the second or third year of working life, but it was on their chassis that GAZ got out of the protracted crisis. True, having completely lost its presence in the passenger segment in the 2000s. But our citizens did not cry about this for long and were not particularly bitter, and mostly they were fans of the brand and those who did not understand that there are a lot of cars in the world that are better than the Volga in almost everything.
In 2001, the plant became part of the RusPromAvto holding, which in turn was transformed in 2005 into the GAZ Group holding. Since then, the GAZ plant has been the parent enterprise of the holding. Let's see what the GAZ Group and the Gorky Plant are today.
Statistics knows everything
This little divider can be missed by those who know what exactly is included in the GAZ Group, and how it all works. That is, the management of the holding. The rest will probably be interested in discovering some new moments.
So, the GAZ Group has five divisions: Light commercial vehicles and cars, Trucks, Buses, Power units and Autocomponents. Each division has several enterprises. For example, buses are PAZ, LiAZ and KavZ factories, power units - Yaroslavl YaMZ, YAZDA and YAZTA (Yaroslavl plants of diesel and fuel equipment), trucks - Ural and so on, this list is incomplete. In total - 13 enterprises in eight regions of Russia.
Today, about 400 thousand people work in all enterprises of the holding (including related industries), and the number of countries where GAZ products are exported is constantly growing: from 23 in 2013 to 51 in 2017. I think that few people are interested in understanding the reports on the holding's activities. but some more interesting statistics numbers still need to be cited. For example, 100% of all domestic front-engined buses belong to GAZ, as well as 74% of light commercial vehicles. The share of medium-sized diesel engines has grown significantly over the past year - from 22% last year to 38% this year.
A year ago, a division of GAZ International was created, which is engaged in the export of gas equipment. Therefore, the holding has recently been focusing on some things that are simply necessary for successful integration into foreign markets. For example, it prepares for the production of engines that meet Euro-6 standards, introduces the ESP system into the standard equipment of its cars, prepares its cars for operation in high-altitude climates, hot countries, countries with left-hand traffic. It may not sound too difficult, but in fact there is a lot of work.
Do not think that interaction with foreigners is limited only to attempts (and successful ones) to sell them cars. No, GAZ is also engaged in the assembly of some cars. For example, Skoda Yeti, Octavia, Volkswagen Jetta and commercial Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. And next year it will even start assembling the Skoda Kodiaq.
Of course, all these cars are much more complicated than the old Gazelle. Nevertheless, the enterprise copes with the task successfully. Moreover, even its own NEXT Gazelles are very different from the good old cars of the previous generation Gazelle Business. There are multimedia systems, and gearbox cable drives with a joystick on the panel, and a multi-link front suspension, and much more. Yes, Gazelles are not the same! They even forgot how to corrode to holes right at the end of the assembly cycle on the conveyor. Let's take a quick look at how they are made now.
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Login - through a gateway
First, let's take a look at the truck assembly shop.
Ready-made cabins and frames come here from other workshops. Here they are "married" (yes, on all assembly lines there is such a concept "wedding" - the connection of the chassis and the cab) and assemble a car from finished parts.
There are several sub-assembly areas along the main conveyor where, for example, panels or seats are assembled. They do this in order not to clutter up the workshop with warehouses of bulk components of future cars, but to assemble everything strictly in accordance with the production plan. On average, a new car leaves here every 80 seconds. Well, or a chassis for a bus, the assembly of which will be uploaded by someone from the “Buses” division.
At each post, the conveyor operator has a button that he must press in case of an emergency. These are rare, but there are. For example, all pneumatic tools themselves control the tightening torque of the connections, and if, for some reason, the parameter is not correct, the tool will show an error. The operator presses a button, and the shift supervisor who immediately comes up has only 30 seconds to make a decision. If the problem cannot be resolved within this time, the conveyor will automatically stop. After 20 minutes, the shop manager already knows about it, and this will already be a serious incident. Consider for yourself: a stop even for two minutes is already one or even two cars behind the plan. It shouldn't be like that. However, with today's approach to production, this practically does not happen.
Several cars randomly selected from each of the conveyors (Gazelle or GAZon in any modification) are sent daily to the audit room of the finished car. For the first time this appeared at GAZ during the assembly of the Volga Cyber, and the Americans brought this innovation from Chrysler. Then, when the plant started producing Sprinters, Daimler also arranged this method of control. Now the verification of products is carried out according to an algorithm that has absorbed a part of these two companies.
If Daimler was more worried about the appearance (the quality of painting, assembly, the size of the gaps, etc.), then Chrysler focused on checking the technique. As a result, GAZ began to carefully check both of them, giving the identified defects an assessment on a ten-point scale (from “no one will see” to “everyone will see”).
After the audit room, the checked cars go on a test run around the city. There they must travel 80 kilometers. However, all other cars also pass a test drive, but it takes place on the track, and the distance is only two kilometers.
And some of the cars are also sent “to the shower”, where they are poured with water. All-metal vans are especially thoroughly tested.
In general, everything looks beautiful and convincing. It remains only to find out where the finished cabins, bodies and other parts appear in the assembly shop.
Let's take a look at the workshop for welding all-metal bodies. Gone are the days when they were cooked by hand. Now robots are on the rampage here. Everything is so automated here that a little more, and these iron monsters will seize power, make a general for themselves and go to war against humanity. And this is really scary: 98 Japanese Fanuc robots are working only on the welding line of vans, and the strongest of them lifts 700 kg. And another 100 robots of German production Kuka are plowing on the cab welding line in another workshop. Okay, kidding, they're not going anywhere: they have no legs. They'll have to stand here and cook Gazelle Next. The control system of the line continuously monitors all the main welding parameters: amperage, as well as force and time of clamping of the tongs. And if necessary - even instantly makes adjustments. By the way, now glue is also used here, which allows less damage to the structure of iron during welding, which should contribute to the longevity of the bodies. And after the end of welding, only on the GAZelle NEXT van body, 6,000 welding spots are checked on a coordinate measuring machine, and the deviations in each cannot be more than 0.2 mm.
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Now let's see how this beauty is painted.
Before we get to the working area of \u200b\u200bthe painting complex, we have to ... go through the airlock! And it's not just that we will find ourselves in a high pressure zone. It is, of course, like this: the pressure is increased there in order to avoid the ingress of dust. But the sluice is needed not in order to avoid decompression sickness (this is very, very far away), but in order to thoroughly vacuum. Here the wind blows from all sides, and from the purest white robe, which is forced to put on in front of the entrance, the remnants of the mud of the mortal world are blown away.
In general, the cleanliness here is amazing. It seems that I have already seen many similar "painters", but in Nizhny, she especially pleases. By the way, before painting, the welded body is thoroughly bathed in a cataphoresis bath. This pleasure lasts four minutes, and the robot also shakes this body so that air comes out of all cavities.
But the body, even with a motor, is not the whole car. As you all know perfectly well, it is now very fashionable to engage in localization, import substitution and other hype. At the same time, it is also not very smart to refuse high-quality imported components. What to do, we and Chernyshevsky ask? At GAZ, the Gordian knot was cut brilliantly: now they produce imported components themselves. Moreover, the list turned out to be impressive: in addition to joint ventures Bosal (exhaust systems) and Bulten (fasteners), the production of stamped parts for Daimler and crankshaft castings for the production of inline four-cylinder Ford engines, T.RAD radiators for light commercial vehicles , Lear Corporation car seats, Collini anti-corrosion coatings and decorative elements, OM646 diesels for Mercedes-Benz, VW axles, YAPP plastic fuel systems, Matador welded dashboard frame and even VW / Skoda side members. And all these parts and components go through the same quality checks that they should have undergone at home. Of course, all this in general significantly affects the quality of GAZ vehicles.
What is the future GAZ preparing for us?
To be successful tomorrow, you need to take care of it today. Better yet, yesterday. And GAZ understands this.
Now the plant is already producing a huge number of car modifications, but there will be even more of them.
Of course, many are waiting for the new 4.6-ton Gazelle. And we have already seen such a car assembled - there is not long to wait here. But the talk that all the frames will become new (just 4.6 t), most likely, do not correspond to reality. And even more so it is not true that the Gazelle is going to completely lose the frame. The frame will be, even on the CMF. Firstly, this makes it possible to install a huge number of superstructures, and secondly, the Gazans rightly fear that they will continue to load three tons into one and a half ton vehicles. So the path of the eternal battle of the mentality with the frame continues in full.
The prototypes for production were the Ford-A and Ford-AA models.
Already on January 1, 1932, the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant (NAZ) entered service and in the same year the first 1.5-ton truck NAZ-AA rolled off its assembly line.
Later it gets the name GAZ-AA.
In December of the same year, the assembly of a GAZ-A passenger car with an open 5-seater phaeton body began.
The first cars were manufactured according to the drawings of the American company Ford. However, they were already initially slightly different from the American prototypes. So on GAZ cars, the clutch housings and steering mechanisms were strengthened, the shape of the radiators was changed, the inch thread was replaced with a metric one. Combining Ford patents with the development of their own solutions, GAZ designers have created an extensive family of original production models and modifications based on the GAZ-AA lorry. So in 1933 the 17-seat bus GAZ-03-30, produced at car assembly plant No. 1, was released. Later, this enterprise was renamed into the Gorky bus plant.
In 1934, a 2-ton, three-axle GAZ-AAA truck with a 6X4 wheel arrangement appeared.
And the 1.2-ton dump truck GAZ-410.
In 1938, a 50-horsepower GAZ-MM truck was modernized and a 1-ton gas generator GAZ-42 truck was put into production.
As well as the GAZ-60 half-track truck
Found in the production program and a place for the ambulance vehicle GAZ-55.
In 1933, on the basis of the GAZ-A car, a GAZ-4 pickup was created with an all-metal cab from a lorry and a metal platform that allows you to transport cargo weighing up to 500 kg. The model was produced at the Gorky car assembly plant.
On April 17, 1935, GAZ became the first automobile manufacturer in the country to produce 100,000 vehicles. The one hundred thousandth vehicle rolled off the assembly line of the plant. It was the passenger car GAZ-A. In accordance with the agreement, GAZ continued to receive technical support from Ford Motor Company for another 5 years after the plant was launched. It was thanks to this cooperation that the plant received documentation for the Ford Model B, 1933 model year.
The model was adopted for production at GAZ, but with rather serious modifications to meet the requirements of operation in the USSR. Among the features of the M-1 in comparison with the previous model, GAZ-A, "Emka" had an almost completely metal body, a more rigid spar frame with an X-shaped cross member, more perfect and, importantly, more tenacious suspension on longitudinal springs, automatic ignition timing, better finished and equipped salon. So, in particular, the front seat adjustable forward and backward, an electric fuel gauge, sun visors, body ventilation with four pivoting “vents in the side windows. In May 1936, the serial production of the 4-door 5-seater GAZ-M-1 sedan, known as "Emka", began. The letter "M" in the model index did not appear by chance. The fact is that at that time the plant began to bear the name of the then head of the government of the USSR - Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, and "1" was the serial number of the model. The letter "M" remained in the designation of the plant's products until the end of the fifties - the beginning of the sixties. In 1937-38. the car received the ominous nickname "Black Raven" due to the fact that it was used by the NKVD to arrest "enemies of the people". that fell on the peak of the Stalinist repression.
This car became the most massive pre-war Soviet passenger model. A number of serial modifications were created on the basis of Emka, including the world's first comfortable closed-body SUV GAZ-61-73.
Later, the off-road theme was continued by the GAZ-64 army command all-wheel drive vehicle. The first car was produced in August 1941.
In the initial period of the war, the plant mastered the production of the GAZ-64 off-road army light vehicle. In October 1941, the production of the T-60 light tank began, the design of which was improved by the factory workers in order to increase its operational characteristics. Also in the same spring, the light armored car BA-64 based on the GAZ-64 went into production.
In 1943, the BA-64B armored car and the GAZ-67 off-road army vehicle unified with it on the chassis were mastered. The GAZ tank design bureau during the second half of 1942 worked on strengthening the T-70 undercarriage,
To eliminate its most important drawback - a single tower. The result of this work was the T-80 light tank with a two-man turret, which was put into service.
In the same period, the modernized GAZ-67B off-road army passenger car, which was also produced in the post-war period, was mastered.
In addition, GAZ massively produced engines, mortars and other military products. The leading role in the design of Soviet off-road vehicles was played by the designer Vitaly Andreevich Grachev, who was awarded the Stalin Prize for the creation of the BA-64 armored car in 1942. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the plant carried out work to replace the entire pre-war model range, the development of which was started partially before the war and was actively resumed in 1943-1945. Already in 1946, the GAZ-M-20 Pobeda went into production. "Pobeda" became famous primarily due to the original body shape, which created very low aerodynamic drag, only 0.34.
GAZ-M-20 became the first Soviet car with a monocoque body and the first production car in the world with a body without wings. The car was distinguished by independent suspension of the front wheels, hydraulic brakes, door hinges on the front hinges. In a comfortable cabin with a heater, 5 people were freely accommodated. It should be noted that all "Victory" were equipped with radio receivers.
The same year saw the light of the 2.5-ton truck GAZ-51, the design of which began in 1943.
In 1947, the production of the GAZ-MM lorry was transferred to Ulyanovsk. At the same time, the production of the GAZ-47 tracked snow and swamp vehicle was mastered.
In 1948, the GAZ-63 all-wheel drive truck was mastered,
And in 1949, a prototype of the GAZ-69 was created.
In 1950, the executive sedan of the large class GAZ-12 "ZIM" and its modifications began to roll off the assembly line.
In the same year, mass production of the BTR-40 (GAZ-40) armored personnel carrier began.
In 1953-1954, the production of GAZ-69 and GAZ-69A was mastered, later transferred to the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, as well as the first comfortable off-road vehicle with a monocoque body GAZ-M-72 "Pobeda" on GAZ-69 units.
In 1956, the "Pobeda" was replaced by the middle-class sedan "Volga" GAZ-21, which underwent a number of upgrades on the way to mass production.
For many people, "twenty-first" has become a symbol of an entire era. Cutting edge for its time, it still has a huge following. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in this model from collectors. No less fashionable are "hot rods" based on the "twenty-first", and original conveyor machines still catch your eye. The latter confirms once again that the Volga GAZ-21 is one of the cult cars.
And in 1959 "ZIM" was replaced by "Chaika" GAZ-13, which held out in production for over twenty years. In technical terms, the design of the "Chaika" was of undoubted interest due to a number of innovations. The car was equipped with a 195 hp V-shaped eight-cylinder engine, a four-chamber carburetor, a power steering, a hydromechanical gearbox. The gearshift control was push-button, and the radio antenna extended automatically.
Body equipment included: power windows, windshield washer, auto-tuning radio, fog lights and more. Along with the base model, which had a sedan body, GAZ-13A limousines and GAZ-13B convertibles were produced in small batches.
In 1958, the team of designers and designers of the GAZ-21 Volga, GAZ-13 Chaika and the GAZ-52 truck at the World Exhibition in Brussels was awarded the highest award - the Grand Prix. However, in reality, the development of the production of the GAZ-52 and GAZ-53 trucks was delayed.
In the same year, for the needs of the Soviet army, a 1.2-ton GAZ-62 landing truck with a cab above the engine was mastered.
In the 1960s, the renewal of the truck line was completed. The GAZ-52, GAZ-53 and GAZ-66, which entered the conveyor, formed the third generation of GAZ trucks. New power units with a powerful V-shaped figure eight began to be installed on the GAZ-53 and GAZ-66. 4x4 dual-use truck
GAZ-66 was the first among the USSR cars to be awarded the State Quality Mark. The car, without straining, could carry two tons of cargo and tow a trailer with a total weight of two tons. By changing the tire pressure and engaging one of eight gears, the driver easily coped with off-road conditions. On dry solid ground, the GAZ-66 climbed steep climbs up to 37 degrees, and on sandy bulk - 22 degrees. The car had a number of innovations, such as a hypoid final drive, an all-metal cargo platform, a forward-leaning cab, power steering, a windshield washer, etc. Due to its outstanding performance, the GAZ-66 quickly won recognition from both military and civilian drivers. The only complaint was the location of the gearbox wings. Due to the original layout, the lever was actually located behind the driver, and even the strongly curved rocker did not give the proper ergonomic comfort when shifting gears.
At the same time, the plant launched serial production of the BTR-60, which was subsequently modernized more than once and was actively supplied and exported, in total, as of today, the BTR-80 is already in service with about 26 states. By the way, the prototype, from the first serial BTR-60, differed in the propulsion system. It was a GAZ-40P carburetor engine with a capacity of 90 liters. with., which was clearly not enough for a 10-ton machine. An attempt to install a 205 hp YAZ-206B diesel engine instead. from. it was also unsuccessful - the engine was too heavy and created a serious overweight of the car at the stern, which was unacceptable for the amphibian. In the absence of other suitable power plants, it was decided to install on the armored personnel carrier a pair of two GAZ-40P with its own transmissions, each of which worked on two bridges and in the event of a failure of one of the power units, it allowed the combat vehicle to remain on the move.
In 1970, mass production of the GAZ-24 began, replacing the GAZ-21. The car was awarded with awards: gold medals at the International Exhibitions in 1969 in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and in 1970 in Leipzig (GDR). "Twenty-fourth" was distinguished by the severity of forms, simplicity, grandeur and has always been the embodiment of dignity and prestige. The high strength of the body and chassis of the GAZ-24 made this car irreplaceable for working as a "taxi". With a 98-horsepower engine, the GAZ-24 developed a speed of up to 140 km / h, and accelerated to 100 km / h in 23 seconds, against 34 seconds for the GAZ-21. The production of the GAZ-21 was completely phased out in July 1970.
In 1977, the production of the GAZ-14 "Chaika", a representative of the third generation of large passenger cars, began. This car was famous at that time for its high technical level and comfort.
Also in the 1970s, a reorganization of production was carried out: on August 24, 1971, the AvtoGAZ production association was formed on the basis of the branch plants and production facilities of the parent enterprise. In 1973 it was renamed into PA "GAZ", which included 11 plants. At the same time, the development of a new generation of GAZ trucks with diesel engines began. Along the way, a significant modernization of the Volga is planned.
In the 1980s, guided by the outlined plan, GAZ begins work on a fourth-generation truck and a diesel engine for it. In 1984, a GAZ-4301 truck with an air-cooled diesel engine was assembled.
The transition to diesel fuel in the 1980s became a priority for the development of the enterprise. The reconstruction carried out in connection with this program turned out to be the most significant in the entire history of the plant. However, against the background of this reconstruction, there has been a certain stagnation in the production of passenger cars. Alas, the Volga GAZ-3102, which appeared in 1981, did not become a fundamental novelty, but only a deep restyling of the 24th.
Moreover, the volume of its production was limited to several thousand per year. At the same time, the modernized "twenty-fourth", which received the GAZ-24-10 index, continues to enter taxi companies and, in limited quantities, is sold to private owners.
It was only in the late 1980s that the development of a fundamentally new family of passenger cars with front and all-wheel drive began. The first to start designing the executive sedan GAZ-3105, which was later produced in a limited series.
The sedans GAZ-3103 (front-wheel drive) and GAZ-3104 (all-wheel drive) intended for mass production, alas, did not become serial due to the crisis in the 1990s. At the end of the "eighties", in the wake of perestroika, the plant began work on the creation of a small-tonnage truck with a gross weight of up to 3.5 tons for the needs of the then emerging small business. Thanks to a CAD design system and an accelerated testing procedure, the future Gazelle family entered the conveyor in record time - back in the first half of the 1990s. The design capacity and production of cars by the plant by the end of the Soviet period exceeded 200 thousand per year, about half of which were cars.
After the collapse of the USSR, GAZ became one of the first large enterprises in the country to try to adapt to new market conditions. In November 1992, the Gorky Automobile Plant was transformed into an open joint stock company (OJSC). The huge demand for passenger cars since the days of the USSR allowed GAZ to increase the production of Volga by 1.8 times, simultaneously carrying out its constant modernization.
So, in 1992, the GAZ-31029 sedan appeared, which differed from the previous GAZ-24-10 model in an extremely modern design of the front and rear parts of the body.
At the same time, a GAZ-2304 Burlak delivery pickup truck was created on the basis of the Volga, which never went into production due to a sharp increase in the production of a passenger model.
The business-class sedan GAZ-3105, which was planned to replace the Chaika, did not find its mass consumer either. The high cost, which was primarily due to the lack of domestic production technologies, modern components and accessories, as well as the ever-increasing competition from prestigious foreign cars, actually killed the project.
But the Gazelle low-tonnage truck, which appeared in July 1994 with a total weight of 3.5 tons, on the contrary, became the most demanded low-tonnage series in the emerging LCV class, extremely popular among small and medium-sized businesses, thus becoming the savior of the enterprise and providing it with sufficiently stable development prospects. The GAZ-32213 minibus of the Gazelle family has become no less popular. Launched in the spring of 1996, it has become the main form of public transport in large cities, namely the route taxi.
In 1997, another modernized Volga was released. The car received the GAZ-3110 index.
In the same year, GAZ acquired a license from the Austrian company Steyr for the production of small diesel engines for passenger cars, minibuses and light trucks. Along the way, in 1997, GAZ entered into an agreement with the Italian concern Fiat to create a joint venture called Nizhegorod-Motors to assemble Fiat cars. In the second half of 1998, the second family of GAZ Sobol low-tonnage trucks and minibuses with a gross weight of up to 2.8 tons was launched.
In 1999, the legendary "Shishiga" GAZ-66, produced in almost a million copies, was replaced by the more modern GAZ-3308 "Sadko", also adopted by the Russian army.
In 1998, a "transitional" sedan GAZ-3111 was developed on the Volga rear-wheel drive platform, designed to strengthen GAZ's position in the business class. However, after 1998, the cost of the GAZ-3111 model turned out to be too high for the market. In total, about 500 cars were produced. However, there were also pre-production samples (until 2000), which were assembled before the car went into series. Various tests were carried out on them in "UKER GAZ". In this connection, the exact number of cars produced is not known.
The default of 1998, alas, did not allow such cars as GAZ-2308 "Ataman", GAZ-23081 "Ataman Ermak" and GAZ-3106 "Ataman-2" to become widespread.
In November 2000, a controlling stake in GAZ was acquired by Basic Element, Oleg Deripaska. In 2001, GAZ OJSC became part of the RusPromAvto automotive holding, which, as a result of a radical restructuring in 2005, was transformed into the GAZ Group holding, where GAZ OJSC was assigned the role of the parent company.
In 2005, the enterprise was able to master the serial production of a new family of low-loader medium-duty trucks GAZ-3310 "Valdai", and the general economic recovery increased the demand for traditional medium-duty trucks GAZ-3307, 3309 and GAZ-3308 "Sadko".
The LCV division was increased in 2006 due to the acquisition by the GAZ Group of the English company LDV Group, which specializes in the production of light front-wheel drive vans Maxus with a total weight of up to 3.5 tons. In May 2008, GAZ began assembling vans and minibuses in Nizhny Novgorod Maxus from English kits. With localization and transition to SKD technology, the Maxus production volume was supposed to be 50 thousand per year, but due to the crisis and bankruptcy of LDV, the project did not reach this stage and was closed in mid-2009.
Due to the conflict over engine prices with ZMZ in 2006-2008, part of the Volga, Sobol and GAZel production was equipped with imported Chrysler 2.4 liter engines. In June 2007, the Volga GAZ 31105 and 3102 saloon was restyled, but the drop in demand for an obsolete model range and the crisis forced GAZ to curtail the production of these models at the end of 2008. To develop the passenger model range, GAZ Group bought the Sterling Hills assembly plant from DaimlerChrysler in 2006, which produced the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Stratus mid-size sedans. Since July 2008, the production of its own model of the E segment, Volga Siber, was organized on the equipment exported from America. The production volume of Volga Siber was supposed to be 65 thousand per year, but the model turned out to be unpopular, and after the release of 8.7 thousand cars the assembly was curtailed at the end of 2010.
To maintain sales of light commercial vehicles, GAZ has developed a version of the Gazelle, reduced in price to $ 6,000, with an UMZ-4216 engine and a lightweight cab. However, the model was not in demand - only a limited batch of about 700 cars was produced.
In February 2010, GAZ Group began serial production of the modernized families of light commercial vehicles Gazelle-Business and Sobol-Business. And in July, GAZ Group began serial production of the diesel modification of the Gazelle-Business vehicle.
In October of the same year, GAZ announced the start of production of a 4-ton version of the GAZ-33106 with a Cummins engine.
In early February 2011, GAZ Group and the American concern GM signed an agreement on the contract assembly of a new generation of the Chevrolet Aveo model at GAZ facilities. At the moment, the car is available in sedan and hatchback bodies.
In mid-June 2011, Volkswagen Group Rus and the GAZ group signed an eight-year agreement on the contract assembly of 110,000 passenger cars per year at GAZ facilities. The agreement was signed as part of Volkswagen's transition to a new regime for industrial assembly of cars in Russia. The assembly of the VW Jetta, Škoda Yeti and Škoda Octavia models is carried out on the basis of the Volga Siber line.
The production of passenger models of its own design is not yet planned by GAZ in the near future. On April 9, 2013, the serial production of the Gazelle Next car, which is the second generation Gazelle, was launched. This car was originally developed for export to other countries. It is planned to start exporting these vehicles from Turkey, Poland and Germany. The release of "Gazelle Next" will run in parallel, along with the release of "Gazelle Business".
"GAZ" (GAZ) - "Gorky Automobile Plant" - a Russian company that produces cars and trucks of the brands "Volga", "Chaika", "Gazelle" and "Ural". The company's central office is located in Nizhny Novgorod.
GAZ is one of the largest Russian (before the collapse of the USSR - Soviet) enterprises engaged in the production of cars. The company emblem - the deer - was adopted in 1950 and has changed only slightly over time. It repeats part of the old coat of arms of Nizhny Novgorod with a prancing deer.
The official opening date of the plant is considered to be January 1, 1932. In the same year, a 1.5-ton truck GAZ-AA and a passenger car GAZ-A were launched into serial production. Before the war, the plant produced two models of passenger cars: GAZ-1 (nicknamed "emka") and "Pickup". During the war, the work of the enterprise was reorganized for the needs of the front.
During the Great Patriotic War, GAZ produced cars, tanks, self-propelled guns, mortars, automobile engines and shells for the Katyusha rocket launcher. The government of the USSR highly appreciated the work of the automobile plant during the war years, having awarded the enterprise the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
Despite the fact that the war was still going on, new models of trucks and cars began to be developed at the Gorky Automobile Plant. Such a speed of updating the model range was worth a titanic effort to re-equip production. In just a year, more than 4000 pieces of equipment were reassembled and reassembled.
The first in the line of new products was the GAZ-51 truck, mass production of which began in January 1946.
This model has gone down in history as an impeccably reliable, rational and very economical. She lasted almost 30 years on the assembly line and, despite her venerable age, is still found on the roads.
At the end of the war, the plant began work on the creation of new models of passenger cars. The very first of them was the famous "Victory" GAZ-20, whose engine power was 50 horsepower and could reach a speed of 100 km / h, as well as GAZ-69 and GAZ-12.
The year 1956 became a new important stage in the development of the plant: the Volga GAZ-21 replaced the Pobeda model. Beginning in 1959, the production of a more modern and comfortable model "Chaika" GAZ-13 with a 149 horsepower engine was launched (after years the power of the GAZ-14 model reached 220 horsepower). In 1969, instead of the old "Volga", the production of a new model was mastered GAZ-24.
After the collapse of the USSR, GAZ was one of the first to adapt to new market conditions.
In the early 90s, the catalog of models was replenished with a new GAZ-3102, which was equipped with a power unit with a capacity of 100 horsepower, and in 1997, GAZ engineers subjected the model to a constructive update, developed a new modern base model Volga-3110.
Also in 1997, an official contract was signed between GAZ and the Italian concern FIAT. This agreement provided for the creation of a joint venture called Nizhegorod-Motors for the assembly of passenger cars of the Italian concern Fiat. However, due to the 1998 crisis, GAZ faced financial difficulties.
In 1999, 125,000 passenger cars left the assembly line of the plant. And the end of the year was marked by the new GAZ-3111 model. The model was created in close cooperation with Venture (America), and is significantly different from its predecessors, in particular, the length of the cabin has increased by 125 mm. In 2000 and 2001, new industrial facilities were put into operation for the assembly of cars, for the creation of which a number of Western companies and several firms from Russia and the CIS countries were involved. However, the lack of finances forced the implementation of a number of promising models to be delayed by several months, but this news could not spoil the company's reputation. Cars with the GAZ brand are assembled in Ingushetia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Now the GAZ-3110 sedan and its modifications dominate the company's production program. They account for over 80% of the total output. The outdated 90- and 100-horsepower engines of the ZMZ-402 family, which have been worked on since 1958, are giving way to a more advanced 2.3-liter ZMZ-4062.10 engine developing 145 horsepower.
The GAZ Group is a leader in the commercial vehicle market in Russia, holding 50% in the LCV segment, 60% in the medium-sized truck segment, 40% in the all-wheel drive truck segment, and about 65% in the bus segment.
In 2011, the company's revenue increased by 37% compared to 2010 and amounted to 132.4 billion rubles, of which 8.5 billion is net profit.
The history of the open joint stock company "GAZ" (formerly "Gorky Automobile Plant") dates back to 1929. March 4, 1929 the decision of the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR was adopted and an order was signed to build an automobile plant April 6, 1929the decision on the choice of the construction site for the future automobile plant - near the city of Nizhny Novgorod was approved
What cars were produced by the GAZ plant?
GAZ-A
GAZ-A is a middle class passenger car with an open 5-seater 4-door phaeton body. A licensed copy of the Ford-A car, the equipment and documentation for the production of which were purchased by the Soviet government in the USA in 1929 from the Ford Motor Company.
The first Soviet passenger car of mass conveyor assembly. It was produced from 1932 to 1936 at the Gorky Automobile Plant and from 1933 to 1935 at the Moscow plant KIM. The first two cars were assembled on December 8, 1932. A total of 41,917 vehicles were produced
M-1 ("Emka") - Soviet passenger car, serially produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1936 to 1943.
During the Great Patriotic War, the plant assembled individual copies from the available parts.
The car became one of the symbols of its era, played a significant role in the war years, as it was one of the most common models of passenger cars in the country and was used very widely.
A total of 62,888 copies were made.
"Pobeda" is a cult Soviet passenger car, mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant in 1946-1958. The factory index of the model is M-20.
The first Soviet passenger car with a monocoque body and one of the first in the world to be mass-produced with a fully pontoon-type body - without protruding fenders and their rudiments, footrests and headlights.
On June 28, 1946, the serial production of Pobeda cars began. A total of 235,999 cars were produced, including 14,222 convertibles and 37,492 taxis.
ZIM (until 1957), GAZ-12 - Soviet six-seater six-window long-wheelbase large sedan, mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant (Molotov Plant) from 1949 to 1959 (some modifications - to 1960.)
ZIM is the first representative model of the Gorky Automobile Plant. The predecessor of the Chaika GAZ-13. Basically, it was used as a company car ("personal car"), intended for the Soviet, party and government nomenklatura - at the level of the minister, secretary of the regional committee and chairman of the regional executive committee and above, in some cases it was sold for personal use.
In total, from 1949 to 1959, 21,527 ZIM / GAZ-12 copies of all modifications were produced.
GAZ-21 "Volga" is a Soviet passenger car of the middle class, mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1956 (1957) to 1970. The factory model index is initially GAZ-M-21, later (since 1965) - GAZ-21. A total of 639,478 copies of all modifications were produced.
GAZ-13 "Chaika" is a Soviet representative (representative) passenger car of a large class, produced in small series at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1959 to 1981.
A total of 3,189 vehicles of this model were manufactured.
GAZ-14
GAZ-14 "Chaika" - a Soviet executive passenger car of a large class, hand-assembled at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1977 to 1988.
In total, about 1120 cars of this model were manufactured.
GAZ-22
GAZ-22 "Volga" is a Soviet passenger car of the middle class with a wagon-type cargo-passenger body. Serially produced from 1962 to 1970 at the GAZ plant in the city of Gorky. Equipped with a five-door monocoque body with a 5-7-seater convertible interior. The base car is the GAZ-21R sedan of the third series. GAZ-22 (early releases - GAZ-M-22) was designated as a separate cargo-passenger model (thus, the “station wagon GAZ-21” did not exist). GAZ-22 had various modifications, and on its basis the ambulance car GAZ-22B and (by other factories and workshops) the GAZ-22A van were produced.
GAZ-22 is one of the world's first crossovers.
GAZ-24 "Volga" - Soviet middle-class car, mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1970 to 1985
GAZ-24-10 "Volga" is a middle-class passenger car manufactured by the Gorky Automobile Plant. In essence, the GAZ-24-10 is a palliative version of the modernization of the GAZ-24 based on the model of a deeper modernization of the GAZ-3102, the deployment of a large-scale production of which was artificially blocked at the level of the branch ministry. It was produced from the end of 1985 until the spring of 1992, when it was replaced by the GAZ-31029 model, which was a version of the GAZ-3102, adapted for mass production.
Since the release of the car coincided with many transformations in the country (the era of perestroika), it went down in history as the first Volga accessible to a wider circle of people, including for purchase in private hands (unlike GAZ-24 and even more so GAZ-3102) ... But at the same time, it retained a relatively high build quality (when compared with the successors of the GAZ-31029 and even the GAZ-3110).
GAZ-3102 "Volga" is a Soviet passenger car of a large class, mass-produced from April 1982 to 2008 by the Gorky Automobile Plant. Developed on the basis of the GAZ-24 Volga car, the GAZ-3102 was to become its successor.
However, for a number of political and economic reasons, this project was produced in small series (about three thousand cars per year), instead of mass production, exclusively as an official vehicle by the Soviet nomenclature of the middle management. These were the positions for which the exclusive GAZ-14 "Chaika" limousine had not yet been assigned, but the status required separation from the general stream. These were deputy ministers, directors of large trusts and enterprises, heads of well-known theaters, generals, prominent academicians-laureates, editors of publications, directors, etc.
GAZ-31105 "Volga" is a Russian passenger car, serially produced on the conveyor from 2004 to 2009 at the Gorky Automobile Plant.
In fact, the "105th" is an improved version of the GAZ-3110. Improvements include: pinless front wheel suspension, rear anti-roll bar, and an improved gearbox. The appearance of the car has also been modernized: instead of angular headlights, drop-shaped headlights are installed, the radiator grille, front fenders, hood and front bumper have been replaced.
In 2005-2007. a version of the "business class" GAZ-311055 with a wheelbase extended by 300 mm and doors extended by 150 mm was produced on request.
Volga Siber (Volga Cyber) - Russian mid-size sedan, produced from 2008 to 2010.
Presented by the Russian company GAZ Group at the Interauto-2007 exhibition in Moscow on August 29, 2007 as GAZ Siber. Later the trade name of the model was changed to Volga Siber.
