JSC Serpukhov Automobile Plant (SeAZ)was a large machine-building enterprise in the Moscow region. The company specialized in the production of wheelchairs, Oka compact cars and spare parts. Today the conveyor is stopped, and the joint stock company is declared bankrupt.
Base
History of Serpukhov Automobile Plantstarts in 1939. On July 7, the People's Commissariat of Mechanical Engineering decided to organize a motorcycle production in the city of Serpukhov. Workplace workshops for minors were identified as a production site, which subsequently grew to the scale of a full-fledged plant.
Acting Plant DirectorPotapov and the chief engineer Kovalenko were instructed to take to the steady implementation of the schedule of "reconstructive" work and to issue technical documentation within five days. The government demanded to produce up to 15,000 small motorcycles a year, while the production was not equipped with the appropriate equipment or trained personnel.
Впрочем, в 1940 году разношерстный коллектив, consisting mostly of problem teenagers, was able to assemble for testing an experimental batch of motorcycles of the MZL series with a two-contact engine. By June 1941, the company had already manufactured 180 units of motorcycles of the L8 model with a four-contact engine. Further development of production in this direction was prevented by the war.
War years
В октябре 1941 года основные мощности и ряд skilled workers were evacuated to the Urals. Part of the production was transferred to the city of Tyumen, the second part - to Izhevsk. The assembly of the AM-600 model army motorcycles was organized at the new location, and other defense products were also produced. After the Nazis were thrown away from Moscow, in December 1941, repair of captured motorcycles for the needs of the front was organized at the Serpukhov Automobile Plant.
Design School
In 1943, the State Defense Committee decidedrestore the motor industry. The sectoral center identified the city of Serpukhov. Outstanding designers from Izhevsk: I. G. Gusakov, A. E. Mamai, I. Ya. Nikiforov, I. V. Ponyatovsky, S. I. Safonov, V. I. Lozhkin, were sent here to organize the Central Design Bureau for Motorcycle Construction. G. A. Weiner and V. M. Vorona.
By 1946, on the basis of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant, a powerful design and experimental center was being formed. Until 1951, the company operated as a pilot production of TsKB.
From motorcycles to motorized carriages
The tragic legacy of the past war wasa large number of people with disabilities. To facilitate their fate, to help them in rehabilitation and integration into society, the Central Clinical Hospital in 1951 developed and introduced the S1L three-wheeled motorized wheelchairs into mass production.
Since then, the main products of SerpukhovAutomobile plant became vehicles for the rehabilitation of disabled people. The design of motorized carriages is constantly being improved. In 1957, the production of the C3L model with a more powerful engine was mastered, and since 1958, the large-scale conveyor production of the four-wheeled C3A motor-wheeled carriage began.
Since 1970, the plant has been producing the C3D Motocar withmetal bearing body, the release of which lasted until 1995. In total, from 1953 to 1995, 572,000 wheeled carts of various series and modifications were produced.
Along with vehicles for disabled people, the plant produces consumer goods:
- children's bicycles "Moth", "Baby" and "Hummingbird";
- trailers for passenger cars;
- shock absorbers for heavy motorcycles Irbit and Kiev Motor Plants.
Car manufacturing
Accumulated four-wheel production experiencemotorcycle carts became an excellent help for the development of the production of "small car". In the first half of the 80s. The Central Design Bureau of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant has developed and manufactured prototypes of a compact, economical passenger car, which later received the name "Oka".
By order of the Minister of the auto industry V.N.From April 25, 1982, the youth teams of the designers of the Volga and Kama Automobile Plants, as well as the Serpukhov Motor Plant, were entrusted with the development of an extremely small car design. Young designers of SeAZ: N. D. Rakov, A. P. Popov, N. A. Pavlov, S. M. Shelestov, A. N. Galanin under the guidance of Deputy Chief Engineer I. E. Ivensky actively participate in this.
25.06.1985 USSR Council of Ministers instructs to prepare the capacity for large-scale assembly of the legendary "small car" at the AvtoVAZ, KAMAZ and SeAZ plants. Serpukhovchane started the most significant reconstruction in the entire history of the enterprise. The project, which provides for the production of 10,000 cars annually on the basis of broad cooperation, is being developed by the Volga Automobile Plant and Giproavtoprom.
Production of power units and drivesthe front wheels are entrusted to VAZ, the production of chassis components and large-scale stamping to KamAZ plants. The most advanced technological solutions are being laid, including the creation of facilities for applying soil by cataphoresis deposition in the paint industry and body welding with robots on a flexible automatic line. The construction of new production and administrative buildings, the reconstruction of old workshops began.
Realities of time
The reconstruction of SeAZ had to be completed in neweconomic conditions of restructuring, characterized by hyperinflation, lack of defense funds of enterprises and a general decline in production. The technical and material support provided by AvtoVAZ, which provided for the completion of the reconstruction and the mass production of a modern car, was invaluable to the plant during this period. However, in an unstable market, mainly applying barter schemes, production did not expand and was unprofitable.
The persistent, hard work of the team allowedto ensure the growth of car production from 3,000 units in 1996 to 18,000 thousand in 2001 and to break-even work in 2000. In the autumn of 1999, the company collected the 50,000th car, and on September 4, 2002, the one hundred thousandth car was assembled. The economic crisis of 2008 has undermined the company's financial condition. 02.02.2009 with respect to SeAZ bankruptcy proceedings commenced. The fate of the auto giant is sad. Today, the photo of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant is only disheartening, and once there was a busy life here.
