Pavlovsky bus plant: history and modernity

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

In the days of the USSR, "grooves" were a familiar attribute of the urban landscape. Barrel-shaped buses carried passengers around the cities and villages of a vast country. Today, Pavlovsky Bus Plant LLC, after modernization, is a modern enterprise that produces products in demand.

Creation

By the 1930s, "car fever" swept the country. New automotive giants were built. Trucks and cars are increasingly found on public roads, pushing horse-drawn vehicles. Mechanized vehicles began to enter the army. To service the equipment, tools and special equipment were required.

To satisfy the growing demand, the government decided to organize the work of an enterprise that would produce body fittings and driver's tools. The town of Pavlovo was chosen as the site. It was conveniently located between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, the country's leading automotive centers. The Pavlovsk Bus Plant (PAZ) started operating on 12/5/1932, producing almost 2 million rubles worth of products in the first year.

New Features

After the war, having close cooperative ties with the Gorky Automobile Plant, PAZ gradually switched to assembling buses. The first five GZA-651 left the gates of the plant on 1952-05-08. It was a single-door bonnet model based on the GAZ-51, where instead of a body a passenger compartment for 19 seats was mounted.

It took 6 years for the team of the Pavlovsk Bus Plant to develop their own cabover model PAZ-652. It was a classic "pazik", which became the most recognizable bus of the USSR (before the advent of the Ikarus era). The design features are two automatic pneumatic doors, comfortable seats and increased capacity. If GZA-651 accommodated 23 people, then the new model is almost twice as many - 42 (23 of which are seats).

For 10 years of production (1958-1968) 62121 units were assembled. The car had a high cross-country ability and was mainly intended for various organizations to move passengers along suburban and intercity routes. However, it was also used as public urban transport.

Record Plant

Pavlovsk Bus Plant became one of the most important manufacturers of public transport in the USSR. On 1968-12-11, factory workers were the first in the Soviet Union to apply the method of switching to a new model without stopping the main conveyor, which helped to reduce production costs and reduce changeover time.

PAZ-672 was the development of the previous model. It was produced by the Pavlovsk Bus Plant until 1989. More than280,000 copies. In 1982, production of an upgraded version of the PAZ-672M began. The model had a long engine life, the interior comfort was improved, the reliability of the power steering booster was increased, and the optics were redesigned. In total, there were more than 20 modifications and versions, including the all-wheel drive version.

In Market Conditions

Even before the collapse of the USSR (in 1989), the Pavlovsk Bus Plant put on the conveyor a new model PAZ-3205, which is still being produced. She was destined to become the most popular in the 90s. The appearance and technical characteristics of the small class bus have not changed much. In general, the design has become more modern, the reliability of the motor and the main components has been increased. In 2014, the model was restyled. At the moment, about 145,000 PAZ-3205 units have been produced. Designers created about 30 modifications for all occasions:

• single-door;
• two-door;
• passenger;
• cargo-passenger;
• for persons with disabilities;
• VIP and deluxe options;
• in northern version;
• school;
• isothermal;
• 4WD and others.

Our days

Since 2000, PAZ has accelerated the development of modern buses, releasing models of various classes. Among them: PAZ-4228, PAZ-4223, PAZ-4234, PAZ-4230 "Aurora", PAZ-5271, PAZ-5272, PAZ-5220. An important step was the creation of the first Russian low-floor urbanbus PAZ-3237.

Today the company is developing by leaps and bounds. The financial statements of Pavlovsky Bus Plant LLC indicate good financial performance. For example, in 2015, profit increased by 5%, amounting to 318 million rubles. In 2009 PAZ-3204 won the title of "The Best Russian Small Class Bus". This became possible thanks to the large-scale modernization of production carried out since 2006.

According to the Swot-analysis of the Pavlovsk Bus Plant, the enterprise remains a key one for the economy of the city of Pavlovo. In fact, it is a city-forming and makes an invaluable contribution to the development of the region. PAZ, despite the difficult economic situation in the 1990s and early 2000s, was able to maintain production capacities in full. Every working day, up to 42 pieces of equipment roll off the assembly line.

Pavlovsk Automobile Plant assembles about 80% of city buses in Russia and is one of the country's largest auto enterprises with rich manufacturing experience. In terms of output, it is among the top 10 leading global manufacturers.