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ZAZ (Ukrainian: ЗАЗ) is the main automobile-manufacturer of Ukraine, based in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhya. It is now a part of General Motors (earlier bought by Daewoo and purchased by GM with it). The company was earlier known as AvtoZAZ.
Full English name: Closed Joint Stock Company with foreign investment "Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant".
Full Ukrainian name: Закрите акціонерне товариство з іноземними інвестиціями "Запорізький автомобільний завод".
Car brands produced: ZAZ, Daewoo, Chevrolet, Opel, VAZ.
Models
- ZAZ-965 Zaporozhets (1962-1969)
- ZAZ-966 Zaporozhets (1967-1972)
- ZAZ-968 Zaporozhets (1972-1994)
- ZAZ-1102 Tavria (1987)
- ZAZ-1105 Dana (1995)
- Daewoo Lanos
- Daewoo/Chevrolet Nubira
History
The company was established in 1960 as ZAZ (Zaporozhskiy avtomobil'nyi zavod) to create the Soviet equivalent of Volkswagen – a car for the ordinary people.
The models named "Zaporozhets" (Russian: Запорожец) were powered by an air-cooled rear mounted V4 engine made by MemMZ (based in neighboring Melitopol'). The early model body was similar to the Fiat 600. A later restyling made the car look more like a NSU Prinz. Despite low reliability and prestige of those cars, they have shown an unbeaten accessibility and popularity among Soviets, becoming the "car for pensioneers and intellectuals".
Since the 1990s, the factory was known as AvtoZAZ. It was bought by Daewoo which has made large investments and established the production of its own models while keeping and modernizing the native brand. ZAZ cars are now powered by a water cooled, front mounted, front drive engine and fall into micro-class. After a purchase by General Motors, the company has started assembling the models of this group.
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