ErAZ

ErAZ or Yerevanskiy Avtomobilny Zavod (Armenian: ԵրԱԶ or Երևանի ավտոմոբիլային գործարան, Russian: ЕрАЗ or Ереванский Автомобильный Завод, lit. 'Yerevan Automobile Plant'), was an Armenian automobile manufacturer in Yerevan, Armenia, mostly known for producing the van RAF-977K (as ErAZ-762) from 1966 to 1996.[1] Plans to establish the ErAZ factory came about on December 31, 1964, by the Council of Ministers of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The original staff were trained at the Riga Autobus Factory in Latvia and UAZ in Russia. ErAZ was privatized in 1995, and declared bankruptcy in 2002.[2]

Yerevanskiy Avtomobilny Zavod (ErAZ)
Founded1964
Defunct2002
Headquarters
Yerevan, Armenia (formerly Soviet Union)
ProductsVans

History

The company started 31 December 1964, with Minavtoprom (the Soviet agency responsible for the automotive industry, to licence-produce the RAF-977 at a local forklift plant).[3] In 1965, the first team of 66 people was created and in the beginning to serve Russian and Ukrainian manufacturers.[4] On 10 September 1965, the company moved to its first factory. The first vehicle, known as the ErAZ-762 (known as Yeraz (Dream), was built 1 May 1966, assembling parts produced elsewhere.[4] Production the first year was 1000 of the plant's design capacity of 2,500 vehicles per year.[4] Early products had payloads of 800 kg (1,800 lb) and 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). They are vans and furgons, which were produced for the needs of the Armenian country and other republics in USSR.

The company built an improve ErAZ-762A beginning in 1969.[4] Production climbed to 6,500 a year by 1973, and reached 12,000 in 1975, due to installation of a genuine assembly line, one of the Soviet Union's first of its kind.[4]

ErAZ designers began work on an all-new van, the ErAZ-3730, in 1971, following the lead of the Commer and Dodge Walk Thru.[4] The first trials models were assembled in 1976; they never entered production, due to a lack of funds.[4]

The ErAZ-762B appeared in 1976.[5] In 1982, the company produced its 100,000-th vehicle.

Models
  • ErAZ-762 (762A, 762B, 762AIV, 762VAR)[6] (1966-1996)
  • ErAZ-3218[6] (1977-2002)
  • ErAZ-3730[6] (1995-2002)
  • ErAZ-762VGP, based upon RAF-977 minibus
    ErAZ-762VGP, based upon RAF-977 minibus
  • ErAZ-762 on a 2018 stamp
    ErAZ-762 on a 2018 stamp

References
  1. "Armenia's Short-lived Car Industry". The Armenia Blog. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. ИСТОРИЯ ЕРЕВАНСКОГО АВТОМОБИЛЬНОГО ЗАВОДА (in Russian). auto.am. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  3. Thompson, p. 192.
  4. Thompson, p. 193.
  5. Thompson, p. 301.
  6. ЕрАЗ (in Russian). auto.am. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.

Further reading
  • Thompson, Andy (2008). Cars of the Soviet Union. Haynes Publishing, Somerset, UK. ISBN 1844254836.
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