GAZ

The history of the GAZ Motor Works is an integral part of the country's history. The works was opened in 1932 and over the six and a half decades of its existence it has produced more than 15 million motor vehicles of various types, including trucks and Emka, Pobeda, Chaika and Volga passenger cars. In 1992, GAZ became a joint-stock company. It comprises six major plants, 11 specialized production facilities which include over 100 workshops, well-developed design and production engineering facilities, a network of departments engaged in different areas of activity, a sales and marketing service, a foreign trade firm, an agro-industrial combine, a training centre, a number of cultural and sports facilities, and a medical and health building complex. Today a total of 100,000 people are employed at GAZ.

The enterprise is a national leader in the industry, its output accounting for 13 per cent of all passenger cars, 62 per cent of all trucks and 26 per cent of all buses manufactured in the country. Thanks to measures adopted by the management of the motor works and supported by the Russian government and the administration of the Nizhni Novgorod Region, the OJSC "GAZ", working under present-day stringent economic conditions, continues to increase its output. In 1997, the works turned out more than 220,000 motor vehicles-a 30-per cent increase compared with 1994. Today there are plans for a further increase in its output. Traditionally following the principle of producing a maximum quantity of practical motor vehicles affordable for a wide range of customers, GAZ is developing its research and development facilities, implementing the modular design approach making it possible to speed up the development and the launching of the quantity production of new models and modifications of motor vehicles. Formerly it was medium-duty trucks that GAZ turned out on a mass scale. In the past few years, however, there has been a sharp drop in the demand for such vehicles. In July 1994, the base model of the GAZel family of light-duty trucks was launched into production. Today over 20 modifications of the vehicle are being produced. Using the van modifications of the GAZel truck as a basis, an ambulance car and a militia car are being manufactured. The design of GAZ-3302 GAZel motor vehicles makes it possible not only to fit them out with various specialized equipment, but also to produce them at assembly plants in regions situated far from the GAZ Motor Works.

GAZel light-duty trucks are in steady demand. To further expand the market for them, the vehicles are planned to be equipped with diesel engines. In 1996, GAZ launched the project for manufacturing the GAZ-560 family of diesel engines under licence from the Austrian company STEYR. These are state-of-the-art engines meeting the strictest ecological and economic standards. Both trucks and passenger cars will be equipped with GAZ-560 engines. The first commercial-scale batches of light-duty trucks fitted out with GAZ-560 STEYR diesel engines have already been turned out. In June 1998, an agreement was signed in Vienna between the JSC "GAZ" and the firms MAGNA and REGGE on setting up in Nizhni Novgorod a joint venture for the manufacture of STEYR diesel engines. The amount of investment in the project is expected to exceed 250 million dollars.

In September 1998, the production of a new family of motor vehicles, GAZ-2217 Sable, will begin at the GAZ Motor Works. They are 660 millimetres shorter than GAZel vehicles, and in their dynamic characteristics and the smoothness of riding Sable vehicles come close to passenger cars. The Sable family will comprise six modifications designed for carrying freight and passengers: 10- and 6-seater minibuses, a freight and a dual-purpose van, and trucks with a load-carrying capacity of up to one ton.

In May 1997, the motor works launched the production of a new sedan, GAZ-3110 Volga. In the late 1999, the manufacture of an up-to-date passenger car with a fundamentally new body made of galvanized cold-rolled steel is planned to begin. Its design and preproduction period is much shorter than before thanks to the use of a "parallel" design method involving simultaneous efforts of the works' design and production engineering services. In the past few years, a whole range of highly efficient technological processes have been developed at the GAZ Motor Works. The time needed for developing and launching a new model has been reduced to nearly one-fifth through the use of state-of-the-art computer technologies such as CAD/CAM 3D and the CATIA system.

In developing its new products, GAZ actively cooperates with foreign companies of a worldwide reputation. A number of joint projects have been carried out in collaboration with foreign partners such as INGERSOLL-RAND (manufacture of high-quality tools) and HADEN (painting complexes). Joint work together with the companies LEAR (manufacture of seats), BOSCH (manufacture of safety cushions for passenger cars), and others is being carried on.

One of major efforts in the development of the Russian automotive industry is the setting up of the joint venture "Nizhegorod Motors" with the participation of the JSC "GAZ", the concern FIAT, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The production of three of the latest FIAT car models-Marea, Siena and Palio Weekend-is being organized in Nizhni Novgorod. The joint project envisages an annual output of up to 150,000 cars. The total amount of investment in the new venture will be upwards of 850 million dollars. Unlike most of the assembly facilities being set up in Russia, the project provides for the organization of a full-range car-building facility and the shaping of a ramified network of Russian suppliers. Within a five-year period, the share of Russian-made parts and accessories for these cars is planned to be increased from 15 to 50 per cent.

The distribution of GAZ products is effected through a broad network of dealers: GAZ has its representation in 160 cities and towns in Russia and other former USSR republics. Associations of GAZ dealers have been formed in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhni Novgorod. To train and improve the professional skills of specialists engaged in the maintenance service of GAZ motor vehicles, three regional training centres with complete sets of equipment, technical documentation and highly qualified instructors have been set up. In each of Russia's economic regions, regional sales and marketing directorates, which are structural divisions of the JSC "GAZ", have been established. At the directorates, warehouses for storing motor vehicles and spare parts for them are being set up, which will make it possible for the consumer to obtain products with desired characteristics within a three-day period. Various plans for selling the products, including leasing, hire-purchase sale, bill programmes, etc., are being developed and practised.

The JSC "GAZ" plans include an expansion of the range of models it produces, improvement in their technical characteristics and quality, the development of the Russian and foreign consumer markets, further expansion of its own sales and service network, and the setting up of assembly facilities in economic regions situated far from its main enterprise. Within the framework of the financial and industrial group, "Nizhni Novgorod Motor Vehicles" the problem of the shaping in Russia of a high-capacity production infrastructure and the drawing of Russian machine-building enterprises into work in the automotive industry is being solved.