Intro: Largest firearms producer in Russia, OJSC "IZHMASH" was founded by the order of the Russian Tsar Alexander I in 1807. Almost all types of firearms were produced here. The postwar period of almost two century history of the plant is connected with production of the Kalashnikov assault rifle AK-47, which is still adopted in armed and special forces of 106 countries all over the world.
Assembly of Moskvitch cars started in 1966. From the 1970s van versions of the Moskvitch 412 were produced and the first Russian hatchback. By the late-1980s the Soviet economy slowed down and it led to the demise of the USSR.
The self-designed 2126 was finally put into production in 1990.
Assembly of Lada automobiles started in 2001. Production was stopped in December, 2002 due to low demand but it was restarted a month later.
During 2004 an agreement was reached with Kia of South Korea on the local assembly of the Spectra. Izh is looking for other foriegn partners as well.
In Summer, 2005 the self-designed Oda, its Fabula estate version and the 2717 pick-up all went out of production. Although production of the Kia Spectra officially commenced in August, 2005 in reality production was only started in October, 2005. |
