History of ZAZ

ZAZ – the legendary Soviet era Zaporozhye Automobile Plant, a plant for the production of cars and minibuses, as well as buses. Located in the city of Zaporozhye (Ukraine), today it is part of the UkrAVTO Corporation.

Actual auto reviews, owner reviews, ZAZ news :
review of ZAZ Vida ,
review of ZAZ Chance sedan and hatchback.
Owner reviews about Chevrolet Lanos (ZAZ Chance):
first, second, third, fourth and fifth years of operation.

The history of Zaza goes back to 1863, when in Aleksandrovsk (until 1922 the glorious Soviet city of Kyiv was called, also known as the place of the large-scale Dnieper) Abraham Coop (Dutch) opened a plant for the production of agricultural machinery.
In 1908, the Melitopol Motor Plant (now a division of ZAZ) was opened for the production of internal combustion engines, from this date the history of the ZAZ company begins.
1923 “Kommunar” (old name “Zaza”) produces combines and agricultural machines.
Cars at the Kommunar plant began to be produced only in 1960 (ZAZ 965).
In 1961, Kommunar was renamed ZAZ, so sometimes the official history of ZAZ is considered from that time.

1970 saw the release of the ZAZ 966, followed by the ZAZ 968 and ZAZ 968 M.
Reviews ZAZ emphasized that rear-engined air-cooled cars are distinguished by simplicity of design and excellent cross-country ability, which many modern crossovers can only envy. During production between 1960 and 1994, 3,422,444 “Cossacks” came down.
Since 1987, the plant has been producing the new ZAZ 1102 Tavria, a front-wheel drive compact hatchback with a liquid-cooled engine.
In 1998, the joint venture AvtoZAZ-Daewoo begins SKD assembly from the bestsellers of the Ukrainian market Daewoo Lanos.
In 1999, there are models based on Tavria ZAZ 1103 Slavuta ZAZ 1105 Dana.
2000 – modernization and production to modernize the ZAZ 1102 Tavria Nova, model Sens (Lanos body from the Melitopol engine 1.3 liters).
In 2004, after a period of large-scale modernization, the history of ZAZ continues – the company starts producing Daewoo Lanos, VAZ 21093, VAZ 21099, Opel Astra G with a high share of Ukrainian components.
2006 start of cooperation with Chinese Chery, engines of the ZAZ company lineup to comply with 2 euros.
2007 Daewoo Lanos was renamed ZAZ Lanos, for the current market it is ZAZ Chance (ZAZ Chance), production of the ZAZ Lanos pickup truck was started.
2009 – the plant produces ZAZ Lanos hatchback ZAZ Lanos, ZAZ Sens (ZAZ Chance), ZAZ Lanos pickup, Chevrolet, Chery, VAZ-210934-20 and VAZ-210994-20.
At the end of 2010, the production of a new ZAZ Forza car (sedan and hatchback) was launched – an analogue of the Chery A13.
In 2012, on the conveyor of a new model for the ZAZ Vida model (sedan and hatchback), in fact the previous generation of the Chevrolet Aveo.
In the current market, the novelty-ZAZ is available in two models: the ZAZ Chance sedan and the ZAZ Chance hatchback (equipped with 1.3-liter 70 hp or 1.5-liter 86 hp engines).
Available to Ukrainian customers: ZAZ Lanos pickup ZAZ Lanos, ZAZ Sens, ZAZ Lanos sedan, hatchback ZAZ Sens, ZAZ Vida, ZAZ Forza, ZAZ Forza hatchback.
Since its release in 1998, ZAZ Lanos (Daewoo Lanos) has been one of the best-selling and popular models on the Ukrainian market. With the entry into the Russian market of an equivalent chance, ZAZ is gaining a strong position in its class.