Kurgan Bus Plant: History, Products

LLC "Kurgan Bus Plant" - onceThe world's largest manufacturer of small-class hoods. Today the company, after a series of reorganizations and upgrades, specializes in the production of beskapotnyh suburban, intercity and urban models of the middle class. An important activity is the assembly of school buses that meet strict safety standards.

Start

In 1953 in Kurgan the erection was startedmachine-building enterprise, where it was planned to manufacture military equipment and equipment. However, later the authorities considered that for the country at this stage the most important task is the production of public transport. After changing the activity profile, the organization was named Kurgan Bus Plant (KAVZ).

19.09.In 1958 the enterprise was instructed to arrange assembling of buses. As a basic model, the development of the Pavlovsky bus plant PAZ-651 was taken, which, in turn, was based on the extended chassis of the GAZ-51 truck. The modification of KAWZ-651 was made before 1971 in various designs.

Easy to maintain and repair, reliable, withgood cross-country, these buses-workers are widely used. Although the vehicles were mainly intended for the village, enterprises, shift workers and various organizations, they became habitual guests on the streets of small towns and megacities as a public transport.

KAVZ-865

In 1971, the "old man" KAVZ-651 on the conveyorKurgan bus plant was replaced by a new 21-seat model - KAVZ-865. It was based on the more progressive chassis of the Gorky Automobile Plant GAZ-53-40. From its predecessor, it was distinguished by a more spacious interior, improved design, increased traction, reliability and increased intervals between repairs.

These buses can still be found onroads of the country. Four-ton workers can accelerate to 90 km / h, but the recommended speed is 60 km / h. A significant disadvantage is the high fuel consumption (24 liters per 100 km). Among the obvious advantages - a heated cabin, equipped with soft comfortable passenger seats.

In 1975, the restyling of the bus took place. In addition to minor technical changes, the appearance has changed slightly. In particular, round rear brake lights and lanterns were replaced by rectangular ones. The model was very successful: in 1975 she was awarded the "Quality Mark". Later (in 1986), the improved modifications were named KAVZ-3270.

Achievements

For the Kurgan Bus Plant KAVZ-865proved to be a landmark. The bus of this brand became the most massive in the history of the world automotive industry. Every year the enterprise produced tens of thousands of units. Record was 1989 - this year the factory workers supplied the country with 20 008 units of equipment.

What is the popularity of the model? First of all - in the unification of the chassis with trucks GAZ-53-40. Accordingly, there was no problem with finding and replacing parts. An important factor was high traffic. In this connection, the main buyers were state farms, collective farms, shift services, state enterprises.

КАВЗ-3976

In 1989, the Gorky Automobile Plant changed its modelrow. The place of the obsolete GAZ-53 on the assembly line was taken by GAZ-3307/3309. Accordingly, the Kurgan bus plant had to develop a new chassis. In the same year the factory workers presented a more modern model KAVZ-3976. It was produced almost 10 years.

The 21-seater bus was equipped with a 120/125-horsepower engine, corresponding to the Euro-2 class. There are various modifications:

• passenger;
• cargo-and-passenger;
• sanitary;
• rotational;
• avtozaki;
• hearses.

In a market environment

In 1993, after the reorganization of the company inOJSC "Kurgan Bus Plant", a successor - KAWZ-39769 has appeared. The model features an elongated chassis base (from 3.7 to 4.5 meters) and a noticeable increase in seating positions (from 21 to 28). There is a 32-seat modification KAVZ-39769, based on a 5.4-meter wheelbase. It became the prototype for a school bus for 34 seats. By the way, KAVZ became the first in Russia to receive a license to manufacture specialized school buses.

Unfortunately, the following years have become difficultfor the enterprise. Earlier, the main buyers of buses were collective and state farms. After their disappearance, sales fell by several times. For a while the plant still produced hood models for watches, however in 2007 their production was curtailed.

Revival

By the early 2000s, the financial position of the Kurganbus plant was deplorable. In fact, KAVZ was bankrupt. In 2003, the enterprise passed under the management of a group of GAZ companies, which had a beneficial effect on production activities. The plant was modernized, the model line was updated. Instead of hood obsolete models factory workers began to collect modern beskapotnye buses of middle class of a series "Aurora".

In 2011, instead of not responding to environmentalnorms of engines began to install Cummins Euro-5 eco-standards. For today, under conditions of import substitution, foreign components are being replaced by domestic components. In particular, new power plants of the Yaroslavl Motor Plant are being tested.

Buses under the brand KAVZ can be found in differentcorners of Russia and the CIS. They are also willing to buy them in Latin America. Over the years, the company produced more than 440,000 units of equipment, and this is not the end of its history.

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