ZiL

AMO ZiL (Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo - Zavod Imeni Likhachova)

ZiL (Zavod Imeni Likhachova)
Formerly called	AMO (1916-1931) ZiS (1931-1956)
Type	Joint-stock
Industry	Automotive
Fate	Production ended in 2012
Founded	Moscow, Russia (1916 (1916))
Headquarters	Moscow, Russia
Key people	Igor Zakharov (CEO) Konstantin Laptev (General Director, 2002–present)
Products	Luxury automobiles Heavy road vehicles Offroad vehicles Military vehicles
Website	www.amo-zil.ru

AMO ZiL, known fully as the Moscow Automotive Society – Likhachov Plant (Russian: Автомобильное Московское Общество – Завод имени Лихачёва, translit. Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo – Zavod imeni Likhachova) and more commonly called ZiL (Russian: ЗиЛ), was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia.

The last ZiL vehicle was assembled in 2012. The company continues to exist only as real-estate development site, on which a new urban district will be built by the LSR Group construction company.^[1]

1916 plan for the AMO factory

Plant buildings fasade at Avtozavodskaya street, demolished in 2014

History

Comprehensive development of the territory of ZIL (July 2016).

The factory was founded in 1916 as the Moscow Automotive Society (AMO) (Russian: Автомобильное Московское Общество (АМО), translit. Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo (AMO). The plans were to produce Fiat F-15 1.5 tonne trucks under licence. Because of the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War it took until 1 November 1924 to produce the first vehicle, the AMO-F-15.

In 1931 the factory was re-equipped and expanded with the help of the American A.J. Brandt Co., and changed its name to Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod Imeni Stalina (ZIS or ZiS). After Nikita Khrushchev denounced the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin in 1956, the name was changed again to Zavod imeni Likhachova, after its former director Ivan Alekseevich Likhachov.

ZiL lanes—road lanes dedicated to vehicles carrying top Soviet officials—were named after the car.

Zil has a history of exporting trucks to Cuba, a business resumed in the early 21st century.^[2] The ZiL factory is portrayed in a 2014 documentary, The Last Limousine.^[3]

Moscow administration has stopped truck production and the company will be liquidated. ZiL still exists as a legal entity, but produces no vehicles. In 2014 it was announced that the factory site will be turned into a residential development.^[4]

The factory's equipment and other automotive assets were auctioned off to a new company, "MSTs6 AMO ZIL". It employs 47 staff, mostly former ZiL workers.^[5] The company took part in the Moscow International Automobile Salon 2016.^[6]

Awards

• In June 1942, the VMS was awarded the first Order of Lenin for the excellent organization of the production of ammunition and weapons.
• In October 1944, the plant was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor .
• In November 1949, a second plant was awarded the Order of Lenin for merits in development of the Soviet autostructure and in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Soviet car.
• In 1971 the plant was awarded the Order of Lenin for the third successful implementation of the Eighth Five-Year Plan.
• In 1975 the plant was awarded the Order of the October Revolution for the successful completion of works on creation of capacities up to 200 thousand cars per year issuance.

See also

• List of ZiL vehicles
• Soviet Artillery Factory No. 92 — also named Zavod imeni Stalina (ZiS).
• GM "old-look" transit bus: Soviet versions — ZiS-154 and ZiS-155 models.

References

• Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two, p. 44. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ZiL.

• (in Russian)—Official MSTS6 ZIL website
• (in Russian)—Official ZiL website
• (in English)—UKcar.com: History of ZiL
• (in Russian) Avtomash.ru: History of ZiL
• (in English)—Russianmilitarytrucks.com: Russian Military Trucks website
• (in English)-The Last Russian Limousine, a documentary film by Daria Khlestkina about the last order of handmade ZiL limousines and how they are produced by aging veterans and unskilled migrants. Hosted by Al Jazeera English. In Russian with English subtitles.