OJSC "Serpukhov Automobile Plant": history, products

OJSC Serpukhov Automobile Plant (SeAZ) was a large machine-building enterprise in the Moscow region. The company specialized in the production of wheelchairs, small cars "Oka" and spare parts. Today the conveyor is stopped, and the company is declared bankrupt.

Base

The history of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant begins in 1939. On July 7, the People's Commissariat of Mechanical Engineering decided to organize motorcycle production in Serpukhov. As a production site, the workshops of the colony labor for minors were determined, which subsequently grew to the scale of a full-fledged plant.

The acting director of the plant, Potapov, and the chief engineer, Kovalenko, were instructed to take the schedule of "reconstructive" works to a steady execution and to issue technical documentation within five days. The government demanded the production of up to 15,000 small motorcycles per year, while the production was not equipped with the appropriate equipment or trained personnel.

However, in 1940, the motley crew, consisting mostly of problem teenagers, was able to collect for testing an experimental batch of motorcycles of the MZL series with a two-contact engine. By June 1941, the enterprise had already produced 180 units of motor vehicles of the L8 model with a four-stroke engine. The further development of production in this direction was prevented by the war.

Warfare

In October 1941, the main facilities and a number of skilled workers were evacuated to the Urals. Part of the production was sent to the city of Tyumen, the second part - to Izhevsk. At the new location, the assembly of army motorcycles of the AM-600 model was organized, and other defense products were also manufactured. After the Nazis were thrown back from Moscow, in December 1941, the Serpukhov Automobile Plant organized repair of captured motor vehicles for the needs of the front.

Design school

In 1943 the State Committee of Defense decided to restore the motor industry. The industrial center was the city of Serpukhov. Outstanding designers from Izhevsk were sent to organize the Central Design Bureau of Motorcycle Construction: IG Gusakov, AE Mamai, I. Ya. Nikiforov, IV Poniatowski, SI Safonov, VI Lozhkin, G. A. Weiner and V. M. Voron.

By 1946 on the basis of Serpukhov Automobile Plant a powerful design and experimental center was being formed. Until 1951, the enterprise functions as an experimental production facility of the Central Design Bureau.

From Motorcycles to Motorcycles

The tragic legacy of the last war was a large number of disabled people. To facilitate their fate, to help them in rehabilitation and integration into society, CDB in 1951 developed and implemented a three-wheeled S1L motorized cycle car.

Since that time, the main products of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant have become vehicles for the rehabilitation of disabled people. The design of the sidecars is constantly being improved. In 1957, the production of the C3L model with a more powerful engine was mastered, and in 1958 a large-scale assembly line for the four-wheeled S3A wheelchair began.

Since 1970, the factory produces a C3D motocross car with an all-metal bearing body, the release of which lasted until 1995. In total, from 1953 to 1995, 572,000 motorcycles of various series and modifications were produced.

Along with vehicles for the disabled, the plant produces consumer goods:

• Children's bicycles "Moth", "Kroha" and "Kolibri";
• Trailers for cars;
• Shock absorbers for heavy motorcycles of Irbit and Kiev motozavodov.

Manufacture of automobiles

The accumulated experience in the production of four-wheeled motorbikes has become an excellent tool for the development of production of "small cars". In the first half of the 80's. The Central Design Bureau of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant developed and manufactured prototypes of a small-sized economical passenger car, which later received the name "Oka".

Order of the Minister of Automotive Industry VN Polyakov from 25.04.1982, the youth teams of the designers of the Volga and Kama Automobile Works, as well as the Serpukhov Motor Works, are assigned to develop the design of a car of a very small class. Active participation in this take young designers of the SeAZ: ND Rakov, AP Popov, NA Pavlov, SM Shelestov, AN Galanin under the supervision of Deputy Chief Engineer IE Ivensky.

25.06.1985 USSR Council of Ministers instructs to prepare the power for a large-scale assembly of the legendary "minicar" at the plants of AvtoVAZ, KamAZ and SeAZ. The Serpukhov residents started the most significant reconstruction in the history of the enterprise. The project, which provides for the production of 10,000 cars annually on the basis of extensive cooperation, is being developed by the Volzhsky Automobile Plant and Giproavtoprom.

The production of power units and front wheel drives is entrusted to VAZ, the production of chassis assemblies and large punching - to KamAZ factories. The state-of-the-art technological solutions are being built, including the creation of soil deposition capacities by the method of cataphoretic deposition in paint production and body welding by robots on a flexible automatic line. The construction of new production and administrative-household premises, the reconstruction of old shops begins.

The realities of time

Completion of the reconstruction of SeAZ had to take place in the new economic conditions of perestroika, characterized by hyperinflation, a deficit of defense assets of enterprises and a general decline in production. The technical and material support provided by AvtoVAZ to the plant during this period is invaluable, which allowed to complete the reconstruction and organize the mass production of a modern car. However, in an unstable market, mainly using barter schemes, production did not expand, and it was unprofitable.

Stubborn, laborious work of the team allowed to ensure the growth of production of cars from 3000 pieces in 1996 to 18000 thousand in 2001 and to leave in 2000 to break-even work. In the fall of 1999, the company assembled a 50,000th car, and on September 4, 2002 - a hundred thousandth. The economic crisis of 2008 undermined the company's financial condition. On 22.02.2009 the bankruptcy procedure was initiated against SeAZ. The fate of the auto giant is sad. Today the photo of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant causes only discouragement, and once the working life boiled here.