LuAZ

The construction of the factory began in 1951. It was opened in 1955 as LARZ (Lutskyi Avtoremontnyi Zavod, Lutsk Automobile Repair Plant). The early products of this relatively small plant were the repair parts for GAZ trucks.

On September 3, 1959, the factory was renamed to LuMZ (Lutskyi Mashynobudivnyi Zavod, Lutsk Machine Building Plant).[1] After the reconstruction the plants begins to produce mobile repair shop and refrigerated truck bodies on Moskvitch, ZIL, and UAZ frames.[2]

The first civilian products suffered a reputation for poor quality, however, "for a time the LuAZ was the only car that could be bought off the shelf by Soviet motorists".[3]

In 1965, LuMZ starts the assembly of ZAZ-969 originally developed at Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant. The first vehicle with original an design to be produced was the LuAZ-967 amphibious vehicle for the Red Army.[4] It originated after the Korean War, when the Soviets saw a need for small off-road vehicles comparable to the American Willys MB, to supplement the overly-large and -heavy GAZ-69s then in service.[5] Developed at NAMI (the National Automobile Institute), the prototype, known as NAMI 049, was completed in 1958.[6] On December 11, the plant was renamed to LuAZ (Lutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod, Lutsk Automobile Plant)

In 1975, LuAZ joined the newly formed AvtoZAZ group. In 1979, the assembly of the new generation of ZAZ-969 begins. It received the name of LuAZ-969M and was widely known as 'Volynianka' (Volhynian). The car received good reviews at the international motor shows. In 1982, LuAZ assembled their 100,000th car, and the next year the export production begins.

In 1989, the factory assembled the LuAZ-1301 compact SUV prototype. In 1990, the plant reached its production record, assembling 16,500 cars in one year.

On 31 May 1993, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allowed to privatize LuAZ, and the document was approved in June 1996. On 27 July 1998 the factory was excluded from the list of strategically important companies and controlling stake of LuAZ is being put up on sale. In 1999 81% stake of the company was purchased by the Ukrprominvest Group of Oleksii and Petro Poroshenko.

After being acquired, the plant began the complete knock-down of Russian UAZ and VAZ vehicles. In 2002, LuAZ stops the production of its older models to replace them with LuAZ-1301 which development began back in late 1980's, the new compact SUV concept gets launched at SIA-2002 motor show in Kyiv.

In 2005, Ukrprominvest formed the Bogdan Corporation. LuAZ entered it alongside Cherkasy Autobus Plant which was owned by the group since late 1990's. The company started assembly of Hyundai and Kia cars from CKD kits. In 2006 Ukraine adopted the Euro-2 regulations, putting an end to the LuAZ-1301 project.

In 2006, a new assembly line was opened at the plant to produce public transport vehicles. LuAZ stops being a separate brand and becomes a part of Bogdan Motors. In 2008, the reconstruction of the plant starts, and the next year it gets renamed to Avtoskladalnyi Zavod #1 (Automobile Assembly Plant No. 1) with plans of expanding the production, however the reconstruction was soon put on hold due to the 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis.

In 2014 the equipment for production of former LuAZ cars was dismantled, and the company instead focused on assembling buses and trolleybuses.

On July 7, 2020, Bogdan Motors went bankrupt for inability to pay the credit to Ukreximbank. The Lutsk plant had stopped operation and was put up for sale.

From the period of 1984 through 2002, 67 people were killed by faulty exhaust systems. Reportedly, toxic carbon monoxide entered the cabin via the ventilation vents and asphyxiated the occupants.

LuAZ vehicles have been notorious for poor crash test ratings. Consequently, countless people have been ejected from these vehicles in accidents. Seatbelts did not become optional until the 2006 model year.

In 2022, Vadim Ignatov, owner of LuAZ, planned to revive the brand with a new logo and switching to electric automobile mainly focusing on economy class with entry level prices and compact design. After the planning the company decided to develop licensed compact pickup vehicles based on EEC L7e, which is sold in China in two versions named City and Farmer 4-door pickup and 2-door pickup respectively both with a loading bed.

These vehicles are said to be powered with 5 kW engine with a top speed of 50 km/h and priced close to $5,000. The body of the vehicle and the motors will be imported from China. These models are to be launched on 30 May 2023. [7]