UAZ,
Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (Ульяновский Автомобильный Завод) is an
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
manufacturer based in
UlyanovskUlyanovsk The city is the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin , for whom it is named.-History:Simbirsk was founded in 1648 by the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo. The fort of "Simbirsk" was strategically placed on a hill on the Western bank of the Volga River...
,
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
which manufactures off-road vehicles, buses and trucks. It is best known for its
Model 469The UAZ-469 is an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by the Red Army and other Warsaw Pact forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service in all state organizations that needed a robust off-road vehicle.The...
jeep, which has seen wide use as a military vehicle in Russia and around the world. The UAZ factory started production in 1941 as part of the Soviet war effort.
War and Post-War
The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant was founded in 1941 as a direct result of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The rapidly advancing Germans threatened to capture the bulk of Soviet industry, concentrated in the Western parts of the country, and thereby undercut the ability of the USSR to supply its troops. In response to this threat the government of
Joseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
ordered the evacuation of strategically crucial industrial centers to the East. By the October of 1941, the rapid German drive to
MoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, triggered the decision to relocate the Moscow automotive manufacturer
ZISZavod imeni Likhachova, more commonly called ZIL is a major Russian truck and heavy equipment manufacturer, which also produced armored cars for most Soviet leaders, as well as buses, armored fighting vehicles, and aerosani...
to the Volga town of
UlyanovskUlyanovsk The city is the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin , for whom it is named.-History:Simbirsk was founded in 1648 by the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo. The fort of "Simbirsk" was strategically placed on a hill on the Western bank of the Volga River...
. The town, already a nascent industrial centre with a sufficiently developed infrastructure and a good supply of skilled workers, would be an ideal location for the reconstituted factory. It was also safely out of reach of the German army. At that time of its founding, the plant was considered a subsidiary of ZIS. By 1942, the plant began production of artillery shells and automobiles. The first automoblie produced at the plant was the
ZIS-5The ZIS-5 was a 4x2 Soviet truck produced by Moscow ZIS factory from October 1933 on. It was an almost identical copy of the American Autocar Model CA truck.-Development:...
three-ton truck.
In 1943, when the prospect of a German victory had become far less likely, it was decided that the relocated plant would remain in Ulyanovsk and be separated administratively from ZIS, which would be rebuilt in Moscow from scratch. This was in line with the Soviet post-war policy regarding various relocated industrial operations. It was considered more efficient to leave the newly built plants as is, while the original plants, provided they survived the war were outfitted anew, frequently with captured German machinery. At the end of 1944, the production of the ZIS-5 was transferred to The
Ural Automotive PlantThe Ural Automotive Plant is a major manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks in Russia. It was established in 1941, when the ZiS factory was evacuated from Moscow during the World War II, and is now part of the GAZ group.-External links:* on GAZ website...
in Miass, while the Ulyanovsk plant began producing the smaller
GAZ-AAFord Model AA is a truck from Ford. As the Model T and TT became obsolete and needed to be replaced, Henry Ford began initial designs on the Model A and Model AA in 1926. Basic chassis layout was done rapidly and mechanical development was moved forward quickly. Body design and style was...
. In 1954 production was expanded to include the
GAZ-69GAZ-69 is a four wheel drive light truck, produced by GAZ between 1953 and 1955. From 1954 until 1972 it was produced by UAZ, as UAZ-69, though they were commonly known as GAZ-69s as well...
jeep. Two years later, the factory was not just assembling the jeeps from parts delivered elsewhere, but manufacturing the automobiles in their entirety.
The Golden Age
In 1958, UAZ began production of its first independently designed automobile, the UAZ-450 - a family of trucks and vans. In 1966, the
UAZ-452UAZ-452 UAZ-452 UAZ-452 («Bukhanka»("Loaf (of bread)"), "Tabletka"("Pill"), "Golovastik" ("Tadpole") is a family of unique off-road cars produced at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant.Serial production of the UAZ-452 started in 1965. The engine is from the GAZ-21....
D a further development of the 450, was put into production. The 452 would go on to become a workhorse of soviet agriculture and police.
In 1972 the well-regarded, but outdated, GAZ-69 was replaced by the more modern
UAZ-469The UAZ-469 is an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by the Red Army and other Warsaw Pact forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service in all state organizations that needed a robust off-road vehicle.The...
. The UAZ-469 was very similar in design to the original
JeepJeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
- a sturdy, but not-so-comfortable vehicle with the ability to overcome virtually any terrain, while also providing ease of maintenance. The 469 reached legendary status, thanks to its reliability and impressive off-road capability, even though it was not made available to the civilian market until late 1980s, before which time it was built exclusively for
policeMilitsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
and military use. A commercially-available variant was produced by the
Lutzk Automotive WorksLuAZ is a Ukrainian automobile manufacturer located in the city of Lutsk.-History:The original product of this relatively small plant is the "LuAZ"-branded off-road vehicle, sturdy and simple, but outdated...
.
The UAZ-469 and its modifications have gained a dedicate following because of its off-road ability, reliability and simplicity. Off-road enthusiasts welcome it as a lower-cost alternative to the American Jeep, British Land Rover and Japanese Land Cruiser.
Crisis
After the collapse of Soviet Union, UAZ has started feeling the heat. On one hand, people were willing to buy its cars due to its high reputation; on the other hand, most preferred used imported off-road cars due to the lack of reliability of UAZ cars made in the 90s. UAZ produced a slightly modified version of its original UAZ-469 car, UAZ Hunter, but the sales were still lacking.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, UAZ experienced many financial problems which resulted in poor quality control and cost cutting which resulted in the production of low quality UAZ automobiles compared to those made in Soviet times.
In 2004, the plant was bought by the Severstal financial group, which made many investments in the firm and had also bought the
ZMA car plantSollers formerly known as OAO Severstal-Auto is a Russian company holding controlling blocks of shares of OAO Ulyanovsk Automobile Works , OAO Zavolzhye Motor Works and OAO ZMA...
in
Naberezhnye ChelnyNaberezhnye Chelny is the second largest city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.A major industrial center, Naberezhnye Chelny stands on the Kama River some 225 km east of Kazan near Nizhnekamsk Reservoir. It serves as the administrative center of Tukayevsky District, although it is not...
.
In 2005, a new SUV-like car,
UAZ PatriotUAZ Patriot is a mid-size SUV from the UAZ division of SeverstalAvto. It was introduced in 2005. Extensive use of third-party parts , large capacity, good off road capabilities and affordable price UAZ Patriot is a mid-size SUV from the UAZ division of SeverstalAvto. It was introduced in 2005....
, was unveiled. Extensive use of third-party parts (which finally allowed UAZ to replace its notorious transmission with a better, Korean-manufactured one), large capacity, good off-road capabilities and affordable price (<15,000 USD) predict good sales in Russia.
UAZ unveils a new 4 door pickup truck.
Reliability
The UAZ-469 (and its modifications) has earned a reputation as a very reliable and capable 4x4. It has gained huge popularity among off-road enthusiasts within Russia, former Soviet republics as well as Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, and is preferred by many over other legendary 4x4s such as Land Rover, Jeep and Toyota.
One of the main reasons the 469 has enjoyed such popularity is its deliberately simple design, which allows for easy maintenance and repairs. Its simplicity is a deliberate design feature for two main reasons: the requirements of the Soviet Armed Forces, as well as that most people in the Soviet Union/Russia prefer to fix their cars themselves as opposed to taking them to an authorized mechanic.
Although the UAZ has proven to be a reliable 4x4, there have been a few problems with the car’s reliability that have slightly hurt its reputation.
The transmission of the original 469 has been known to have problems when not maintained properly (as the owners manual dictates). Another major problem within Russia has been the production of counterfeit parts made out of cheap metals.Furthermore, the 90’s (after the fall of the Soviet Union) saw a significant decline of quality in the assembly of UAZ vehicles as the company struggled to survive and could not afford to pay the salaries of its employees.
Other problems have been encountered with the modernization of the vehicle, as many of the new electrical and cosmetic parts have been of poor quality. To combat these problems, and return the reliability and dependability of UAZ vehicles to their former standards the UAZ Company has recently introduced a new Quality Control system which has reduced the number of UAZ vehicles with defects arriving in showrooms around the world.
External links