Ural Automobile Plant: history. Types of products, photo

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The automotive industry in Russia is constantly developing. Today, there are 16 plants of this specialization in our country. One of the largest engineering enterprises is the Ural Automobile Plant (UralAz), which produces mainly trucks.

When the factory was organized

UralAz has been leading its history since 1941-30-12. It was then that the USSR State Defense Committee decided to organize a foundry auto-motor enterprise in Miass, the production facilities of which were evacuated from Moscow from the plant named after. Stalin (ZiS). The installation of the equipment of the new plant went straight "from the wheels" literally in the open air. At the same time, the buildings of the plant were erected. The first workshop of the new enterprise began to function in the spring of 1942. A month after the launch of the plant, its first products came out - gearboxes for tanks and engines.

Global transformations

For more than a year, the Miass Motor Plant produced only components. However, the country urgently neededcars. Therefore, by order of the same Defense Committee dated February 14, 1943, the enterprise was transformed into the Ural Automobile Plant. Stalin (UralZiS). Miass, an old provincial town of gold miners, merchants and artisans, overnight turned into the capital of the Ural heavy engineering industry.

First truck

The country did not have to wait too long for the new products of the newly formed enterprise. By May 27, 1944, the conveyor of the enterprise was put into operation, and the first car left it on July 8, 1944. On July 20, a whole batch of brand new ZiS-5V went to the front. On September 30, 1944, the thousandth car was assembled at the enterprise.

The history of the Ural Automobile Plant is inextricably linked with the Second World War. During the war years, the company's trucks were widely used on all fronts and were considered very reliable. With cabins made of wood, without brakes on the front wheels, the famous lorry entered Berlin with the Red Army.

The first truck of the enterprise was designed on the basis of the two-axle non-wheel drive ZiS-5 produced at the Moscow plant. Especially for front-line conditions, engineers developed its simplified version. The main advantage of the new model, in comparison with the old one, is a more powerful engine. The trucks equipped with it could accelerate 35% faster than the ZiS-5. At the same time, gasoline savings reached 10-16%.

Factory after the war

Since 1947, the Ural Automobile Plant (UralAz), whose history began in the early yearsof the war, begins to produce trucks, the design of which includes those components and parts that were not equipped with the front-line model. First of all, the car is equipped with a body with three folding sides. Later, brakes with hydraulic drive to all wheels begin to be used. The fuel tank of the car moves under the body. In the design of the front version, it was located under the seat. After all these changes, the letter “M” (upgraded) was added to the name of the completely re-equipped ZiS-5V.

1956 became one of the most significant years in the history of such an enterprise as the Ural Automobile Plant. The photo of the UralZis-355 truck, created this year on the basis of the experimental UralZis-353, presented below, clearly demonstrates its advantages in comparison with previous models. Number 355 was assigned to the car according to the index of its engine (5555 cm3 per 85 l / s). The new motor of the machine had an improved lubrication system, power supply and crank mechanism. The main advantages of the ZiS-355 were an increase in speed to 70 km/h and a reduction in fuel consumption to 29 liters per 100 km.

Later, the plant produced even more modern UralZiS-353M and 353A. Since 1959, the plant began to produce off-road vehicles "Ural". Serial production of the Ural-353 began in 1961. ZiS vehicles left the factory assembly line for another five years after that.

Gas-type trucks

In parallel with gasoline models, immediately after the war, the Miass plant began to producecars and such. Initially, the company mastered the production of the ZiS-21A model developed at the Moscow plant. To obtain a gas mixture in this machine, dry chocks were used. Of course, according to the characteristics of gasoline ZiS, it was significantly inferior. The first gas-powered vehicle could travel at speeds as low as 48 km/h. Its carrying capacity was 2.5 tons. Later, other modifications of gas-generating cars were also produced. The last one was UralZiS-352.

90s

In 1994, the plant became a joint stock company and was named OAO UralAz. In 1998 the company passed to external management. In 2000, its restructuring was completed with the formation of Ural Automobile Plant JSC.

Renaming the company

In 2011, UralAz (Ural Automobile Plant), with over 1,400,000 vehicles rolled off the assembly line by that time, was renamed Ural. The enterprise became the main one in the holding "Trucks". To date, in addition to it, the group includes OAO URALAZ-Energo, OAO Saransk Dump Truck Plant, OAO Social Complex.

The main customers of the Ural Automobile Plant (Ural) are the largest companies in the field of oil and gas processing: OOO Gazprom, OAO NK Rosneft, TNK-BP, etc. Acquires trucks "Ural" and the state. Among the customers of this level are the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ural plant was the first truck manufacturer in the CIS to bring itsmanagement system in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001-2000 and 2008.

Ural trucks today

Today, as in the days of the USSR, the Ural Automobile Plant specializes in the production of mainly trucks. Machines of this brand are distinguished by reliability, power, high load capacity. They are valued both in industry and in agriculture for their ease of maintenance. The main advantage of the equipment of this brand is considered to be high cross-country ability, provided by a special design of the drive axles and a well-thought-out system for adjusting the air in the tires.

Ural trucks can be operated under the most severe weather conditions. For example, you can perform production tasks on them at temperatures from -50 to +50 degrees. The advantage of the equipment of this well-known manufacturer is also the fact that it is designed for garageless storage.

To date, the plant produces all-wheel drive cargo off-road vehicles and trucks designed for operation on paved roads. On-board models of this brand are equipped with a berth.

Other company products

In addition to trucks, the Ural Automobile Plant produces shift buses, utility vehicles, truck tractors and dump trucks. On the basis of the chassis of this brand, more than 400 types of special equipment are mounted: cranes, tankers, repair shops, fire trucks, etc. Buses of this brand are inoffice version are equipped with air conditioning and ventilation. Their cabin has an autonomous heating system. Since 2001, the plant has also been producing cars with an engine that meets the Euro-2 European environmental standards. Armored vehicles "Ural" were developed at the enterprise especially for the army.

The company sells its cars through the Sales Directorate of the Trucks holding and through a wide dealer network organized in all regions of the country.

Enterprise management

Today, one of the largest Russian enterprises engaged in the production of trucks and special equipment is the Ural Automobile Plant (UralAz). Its director, Viktor Kadylkin, previously headed the Power Units division and the Yaroslavl Motor Plant. In 2013, he replaced V. Korman, who had been in charge of the Ural Automobile Plant for 9 years (since 2002).