Volzhsky Automobile Plant is the leader of the domestic car industry

Volzhsky Automobile Plant is the first name of the leader of the domestic auto industry of JSC AvtoVAZ. So the enterprise was named during the construction and release of the first cars, popularly called "kopecks". In 1971, the plant was renamed and officially named "Volga Association for the production of cars" AvtoVAZ ", and in the following year the company was additionally given the name of the 50th anniversary of the USSR. Before the restructuring, the plant produced cars under the brands "Zhiguli", "Oka", "Niva", "Samara" and "Sputnik". After the reorganization, a new brand appeared - "Lada". Also, Nissan cars are produced here, and Renault will soon begin to go off the assembly line. Headquarters and earlier, and is currently located in the city of Togliatti. The enterprise is controlled by the industrial alliance Nissan-Renault.

Company History

In the late 1960s it became clear to the leadership of the USSR that the production of AZLK and GAZ did not meet the world standards of machine building. After considering a number of sites, it was decided to build an enterprise in Togliatti to produce cars. So appeared in the project Volzhsky Automobile Plant. Its history began with the specialists of the Italian concern Fiat. The construction of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant began in 1967, and was declared the All-Union Komsomol construction. Thousands of young people from all over the country gathered for such a momentous event. The enterprise was rebuilt for 2 years. In 1969, at the stage of installation of equipment, the formation of the collective began, mainly from those people who built the plant. More than 800 companies from all over the world supplied their products to equip the plant.

The first "penny"

The first car "Zhiguli" was removed from the conveyor by the chief-instructor of the enterprise Benito Guido Savoini on April 19, 1970. So the Volga Automobile Plant began its life in Togliatti. Actually, the name "Zhiguli" was not there, the "kopeck" was officially named VAZ-2101. And they nicknamed "Russian Fiat". Actually the "penny" was already the second popular name and it appeared in the 90's, when VAZ-2101 was already taken off the production line. The prototype of the car was Fiat 124R - export modification of the concern especially for the USSR. In total, more than 8 hundred changes were made to the design, including the engine's camshaft top position, the piston stroke decreased, the clearance increased, the front suspension was changed, the engine was converted to a short stroke and other upgrades were made. But do not think that the successful experience of Fiat was adopted only in the USSR. In Bulgaria and Poland, licensed options were issued, based on one of the models developed by the Spanish Seat and Turkish "Tofash".

The most popular models of VAZ

Over the years, the Volga Automobile Plant has produced many modifications of cars. Not all of them were successful, but individual models were highly appreciated by consumers. "Kopeika" quickly became popular due to its good technical parameters and relatively inexpensive price. The first station wagon VAZ-2102 was no less successful and for a long time took this niche in the market. The following models were not very popular, but the modification of the 76th year - the VAZ-2106 - was, perhaps, the best car from the entire line of "Zhiguli". It had technological units and ideal parameters for domestic roads. The next successful car was "Niva", which began to be produced at the enterprise from the beginning of the 80's. It is worth noting that this is the only machine mass exported to the USSR abroad. In the 84th the VAZ-2108 Samara with front-wheel drive came off the assembly line, which caused a furore on the domestic market. In the 87th Volga Automobile Plant produced the famous "nine", on the basis of which some domestic cars still make.

New brand of Avtovaz

After the Volga Automotive Plant became JSC AvtoVAZ, the company developed a new car brand. The experimental production of Lada-110 began in 1995. It was for the first time that innovations such as an airbag, an electronic injection system, glass and other achievements of the world car industry were applied. Subsequently, she went through a lot of modifications, including the model with an Opel engine. The production of Lada was initiated not by the market, but by consumers who were in dire need of cheap and simple cars.

Domestic cars with automatic transmission

In December 2013, the last car Lada-Samara got off the assembly line. To date, JSC AvtoVAZ produces a new brand Lada-Granta. Its main improvement was the automatic transmission. For the Russian car industry - this is a real innovation. What will be her fate, is still unknown, since the model is still only in one version - the "sedan". But the car already now has success with domestic motorists and is sold well throughout the Russian Federation.