GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant, Molotov Automobile Plant — a brand name and abbreviation standing for "Gorky Automobile Zavod."
A leader of the domestic automotive industry and one of the principal enterprises of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, after which the most populous district of Nizhny Novgorod is named: Avtozavodsky District. The urban areas that fall under the cultural influence of the GAZ factory buildings and its many supplier enterprises are also colloquially known as "Avtozavod."
Nature of the Phenomenon
The Gorky Automobile Plant is one of the leading suppliers to the domestic defense industry, with an extensive production base that has shown little inclination toward modernization. Unlike the Volga Automobile Plant, which drew on the experience of Italian automaking from the 1960s, GAZ chose to model itself on American automobile manufacturing of the 1930s. In the 1990s, the leadership of Nizhny Novgorod Region attempted to put the name Russian Detroit into circulation in order to give foreign investors the most concise possible explanation of what was happening to GAZ.
GAZ has always been, is, and will remain a quintessential representative of the domestic Automotive Industry. This is largely why the plant has been plagued by systemic economic difficulties, which worsened with the onset of the economic crisis. Thus, following the shutdown of the main passenger-car assembly line, one of the plant's directors, who was responsible for laying off workers, committed suicide in the restroom of a staff retraining center.
Useful Activities
GAZ vehicles are in demand throughout the CIS: the design of most models is reliable and straightforward, and their spacious interiors make repairs easy. By its contribution to the city budget, GAZ can be called one of the city-forming enterprises of Nizhny Novgorod.
Products
For civilian customers, GAZ manufactures highly popular trucks — the "polutorka" ("one-and-a-half-ton") Gazik, the light trucks GAZelle, Sobol, Barguzin, and minibuses based on them; for the military and security services — armored personnel carriers and special vehicles on truck chassis, including the domestic counterpart of the Hummer H1, the armored vehicle "Tigr." In standard configuration, the Tigr costs around $60,000. It is based on the GAZ-2330 and has an engine output of 215 horsepower.
The plant has discontinued production of ordinary passenger cars.
In the recent past, GAZ assembled in small batches limousines for the mid-level Soviet leadership — the "Chayka," as well as the "Volga River" sedan, which formed the backbone of official vehicle fleets.
At present (2011), the plant is carrying out intensive work to retool the idle welding, painting, and assembly capacities of the Volga Siber line for the production and contract assembly of vehicles from the Volkswagen Group — specifically the Škoda Yeti, Škoda Octavia, and Volkswagen Jetta. The total capital investment in this retooling amounts to 190 million euros, of which 85 million come from the GAZ Group.
Background
Ford in the USSR
The first contacts between representatives of Soviet Russia and Ford managers in Detroit took place in the spring of 1919. For a time, a deal between Ford and the Soviets was blocked by an exclusive agreement Ford had concluded with the businessman P. P. Batolin; Ford himself, having lost nothing through nationalization in the RSFSR, was ready to supply Russia. The first deals fell through because Soviet representatives were pursued and expelled by US authorities in 1919–1921. From 1922, the interests of the RSFSR and later the USSR in the United States were represented by Julius Hammer (father of Armand Hammer), and in May 1924 Amtorg was established with Armand Hammer's participation. The deal with Ford was overseen by L. D. Trotsky.
In December 1925, the USSR purchased a batch of 12,000 tractors on terms of 25 % advance payment and a 10-month credit on the balance — an unusual concession from Ford, who normally insisted on payment in cash. Ford agreed to the arrangement due to declining sales on the domestic US market. From 1925, Fordsons were assembled at the Krasnyi Putilovets plant in Leningrad.
In 1926, bilateral visits took place: Ford representatives studied the operating conditions of tractors in Russian fields, while Soviet trainees visited the factories in Detroit. At the same time, Ford attempted to tighten supply terms, and the Soviet side reduced its purchases; after production was transferred to Ireland, they ceased altogether. Ford lost the Russian tractor market to International Harvester designs — just as it lost the domestic American market. This did not prevent Ford and the USSR from signing the 1929 agreement that resulted in the construction of the Gorky Automobile Plant.
The Birth of GAZ
The enterprise's founding date is considered to be January 24, 1932. The investment totaled approximately thirty million dollars of that era.
Ford specialists built the main assembly line and helped Soviet engineers master the documentation for the production of Ford's passenger and truck chassis — by that time outdated but well proven — as well as the principal types of Ford engines. For about a year, copies of the Ford-AA were produced under the NAZ (Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant) label; then, following the renaming of Nizhny Novgorod as City of Gorky, the manufacturer was redesignated GAZ and began developing its own vehicles.
Air Raids during the Great Patriotic War
In June 1943, three major air raids were carried out against City of Gorky, with the Molotov Automobile Plant as the primary target.
A total of 1,631 high-explosive bombs and 33,934 incendiary bombs were dropped on the city, of which 1,095 high-explosive and 2,493 incendiary bombs fell on the automobile plant. At the plant, 50 buildings and structures were destroyed or damaged, along with more than 9,000 conveyors and transporters, 5,900 units of process equipment, 8,000 engines, 28 overhead cranes, 8 workshop substations, and 14,000 sets of electrical apparatus and instruments.
254 residents of Avtozavodsky District and 28 air-defense personnel were killed; 492 residents and 27 personnel were wounded.
Interesting Facts
- The Volga automobile earned the popular nickname "barge" for its size and exceptionally smooth ride.
- The Tiger armored vehicle was purchased by the LDPR party for Vladimir Zhirinovsky for the purpose of inspecting remote parts of Russia. According to the plant's press service, this model enjoys "considerable demand among government officials." The main reasons cited include its bulletproof armor and ability to handle the off-road conditions of central Russia.
GAZ automobiles:
- in 1933, were among the first to conquer the Karakum Desert;
- were the primary vehicles on the "Road of Life" during the Leningrad blockade;
- were the first to be tested at Russia's pole of cold in the settlement of Oymyakon, Yakutia;
- successfully served the Soviet polar expedition in Antarctica at the South Pole;
- were the first, during the City of Gorky–Vladivostok run, to make it under their own power through the swamps of Transbaikalia and the Chita Region, considered impassable in summer;
- the GAZ-66 was the first vehicle in the RSFSR to receive the State Quality Mark.
Recollections from Different Years
1980s
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The story of how I got my Volga (car) is simple. My uncle is a People's Artist of Russia — he was entitled to a Volga, but had no intention of driving it.
No sense letting it go to waste, so instead of the uncle, the nephew headed off to the Gorky Automobile Plant. Experienced car owner Alexander Kolker (a well-known composer and fellow Volga owner) advised me to bring along a few sticks of hard-to-get sausage, some of my records, and concert posters. And he was right: in City of Gorky we ended up in an absolutely wild drinking session with the director, his deputies, foremen, and workers. The Soviet automotive giant itself reminded me of a mine. Everything was done with sledgehammers. Some assembly line — three or four cars rattled along on chains, and by the time they reached the ground they'd already been picked clean. But in a special spot stood two cars set aside for "their own" people. They picked one out for me. A banquet followed. We drank hard, and in the morning they stuffed me into the car, telling me it was the best they had. When I finally came to my senses, I asked curiously: "And how do I actually get to Leningrad?!" They waved their hands: "Just drive that way!" |
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GAZ Decoy in Mordvintsevo
— In the village of Mordvintsevo, in the fields near Village of Fedyakovo (where the Mega mall is), during the war of 1941–1945 a huge decoy of GAZ was built in the fields. It was made of plywood and glass, supposedly to confuse the Germans when they tried to bomb GAZ, which was producing for the defense industry. Bombs fell on the village and nearby; in those days our grandmothers, young at the time, hid with their children in root cellars. All of this is word of mouth.
Griljash, City Forum NNRU, 28.01.2012 at 01:42:41.
Other major players in the domestic automotive industry
- VAZ — Volzhsky Automobile Plant (Samara Region)
- PAZ — Pavlovsky Automobile Plant (Nizhny Novgorod Region)
- UAZ — Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (Ulyanovsk Region)
Useful links
Contacts
Press Service of GAZ Group
Phone numbers
- +7 (831) 299-09-90
- Extension 23904