The continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has once again brought Russia, a vast power, into the global spotlight, along with the mysterious oligarchs and "ruthless" Vladimir behind the high-net-worth industry. Compared to Putin, the presence of the Russian auto industry seems to be much lower. In fact, for the Chinese people, Russia's automobile industry can be described as "familiar and strange", before the reform and opening up, the former Soviet Union produced cars and commercial vehicles once accounted for a considerable share of the mainland motor vehicle ownership, even in the 1980s-1990s, Russia's Lada, Volga and other cars, although due to outdated design and poor stability ranked among the "four major breaks in Eastern Europe" (Muscovites, Polonez, Volga and Lada, ranked in no particular order), However, with its simple and easy-to-maintain mechanical structure and cheap price, it also became the choice of many buses and even early private cars at that time. But after entering 2000, the "Russian car" quickly disappeared from the Chinese vision.
In fact, today's Russian car companies are indeed weakening, although in the above list of Russia's top 25 best-selling cars in 2021, the Russian local brand Lada has taken the top spot and entered the list with as many as 5 models, but the parent company of this long-established car company, AvtoVAZ, was wholly owned by the French Renault Group in 2016, and in January 2021, the brand was reorganized and formed with the Romanian brand Dacia (Dacia), which was also under renault." Dacia-Lada Business Unit", the two will share model platforms and related technologies in the future.
On the other hand, although the automobile industry in Soviet Russia is not a pioneer in Europe, where the automobile industry was born, it can be regarded as an early country that established a perfect automobile industry system throughout the world. As early as the first decade of the 20th century, there were many car brands such as Russo-Balt, Puzyryov, Lessner in Russia, and even in 1907, the first car show was held in Moscow. In 1912, the Russian car company Russo-Balt participated in the Monte Carlo Rally in the "antiquity" period. In contrast, the beginning of the Japanese automotive industry, the Mitsubishi Model A, was not only based on the Fiat A3-3 "reverse research and development", but was only introduced in 1917. Toyota's first production car, the AA sedan based on the Chrysler Airflow model, didn't even debut until 1935...
Not only that, but even the South Korean auto industry, which started in the 1970s and took off rapidly, is not the same as the former Soviet Union at the same time. In 1975, Hyundai launched the country's first self-developed model, the PONY, and in the same year, the total output of cars in the Soviet Union had exceeded the mark of 2 million units...
So why did the Russian auto industry, which started much earlier than Japan and South Korea, and even as the "founder" of the mainland's auto industry, now degenerate here? In the author's view, the development path of the Russian automobile industry from prosperity to decline is quite similar to the same lamentable Chinese men's football team, and it should be noted that the author does not intend to "insult Russia" here, but just wants to let the readers of this article have a deeper understanding of the development of the Russian automobile industry through image analogies.
Drawback 1: The development path is chaotic
Like the frequent coaching changes of the Chinese men's football team, "who is strong to learn who" is also the main theme of the development of the Russian automobile industry for a long time. Due to the special political system, the development of the automobile industry in the Soviet Union depended more on the choice of the market, but on the comprehensive result of objective factors such as international politics and the personal preferences of those in power. In the 1930s, for the Soviet government, which had just completed the Second Five-Year Plan, the remaining automobile industry of the Tsarist period was not only systemless, but also far behind the advanced level of the automobile industry in the United States and Europe at that time. Therefore, the introduction of advanced technology became a "must" for the development of Soviet automobiles.
The first Ford Model A to be assembled on a Soviet production line
Between the long-standing friendly relations between the Soviet government and Henry Ford, the two sides reached an agreement in 1929 to build a factory in the Soviet Union to assemble the Model A car; in 1931, the cooperation between the two sides went further, and the Soviet government used gold to buy a complete set of production lines and technical drawings for a Ford factory in the United States, on the basis of which a huge Gorky Automobile Factory was established. Since then, the United States has become the "mentor" of the Soviet automobile industry. From the GAZ M-1, based on the Ford Model B, to the famous Volga sedan and the full-size luxury cars dedicated to Soviet leaders, the ZIS and the Seagull, there is a strong American style.
After the end of World War II, Soviet cars continued to develop along the road of the American automobile industry, and interestingly, the Soviets developed a unique car-making system on the research and development system of the American automobile industry, and even began to "feed back" the United States. In the 1960s, the ZIL-118 Yunost (Youth) van independently developed by the Soviet Union was even favored by Henry Ford II, who even flew to Moscow to negotiate the production rights of the car in the United States, although the negotiations eventually failed, but in the eyes of many automotive history experts, this innovative model that combines the comfort of luxury cars with the spatiality of the van is the true ancestor of the American VAN model.
However, as the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union gradually entered its peak in the 1960s, the Western countries led by the United States began a strict technical blockade of the Soviet Union, so the Soviet automobile industry was once again widened, so the Soviets began a long "journey to worship the teacher". Eventually, they hit it off with the "left-leaning" Italians of the time, and in August 1966, Vittorio Valletta, then president of Fiat, signed a cooperation agreement with Alexander Tarasov, minister of the Soviet automotive industry. A modern car factory, AvtoVAZ, was founded. The company's first production car was the modified Fiat 124 R – VAZ 2101. The R in the car name is the russian russia abbreviation. In order to adapt to a more dangerous road environment, the car used thicker steel plates, abandoned the expensive four-wheel disc brake, and the suspension and chassis structure of the original car that paid attention to the handling were also greatly structurally strengthened in response to the harsh road conditions in the Soviet Union. At the same time, kamaz trucks, which have introduced a lot of Western European technology, also began to start production. The Soviet auto industry seems to be keeping up with the pace of the world again.
Thanks to the surge in global crude oil prices during the Brezhnev administration, the Soviets earned a lot of money by exporting oil, cars began to enter the homes of ordinary people, with the domestic demand for new cars soaring, the Soviet automobile industry also entered a period of rapid development, in 1970 the national annual output of automobiles exceeded 1 million, in 1975 the annual output of Soviet cars reached the level of 2 million. In terms of models, in addition to the sedan based on the Fiat 124 (initially VAZ-2101, modified in the medium term as VAZ-2105), AvtoVAZ has also developed its own light off-road vehicle NIVA, which has also achieved worldwide success due to its compact and flexible body and simple and reliable four-wheel drive system. In addition, in the late 1970s, Soviet cars led by the VAZ-2105 were welcomed by the Eastern European, Canadian and even British markets, and exports rose steadily.
Since then, the Soviet automobile industry has fallen into a strange circle of stagnation, although in the 1980s, Soviet brands and scientific research departments have come up with plans for the current model or even replacement, due to the continuous downturn in the Soviet economy, most of these achievements have only stayed in the prototype car or even sludge model stage.
In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the "shock therapy" promoted by the Yeltsin government not only allowed a large number of state-owned assets to flow into private hands. At the same time, foreign used cars flowing into Russia through various channels have completely destroyed Russia's already fragile automobile industry. After Putin came to power, although he successively tried to boost the local automobile industry with a series of macro-control measures such as introducing foreign capital, exchanging the market for technology, and increasing the tax on imported cars to protect the local industry, all of them ended in failure. So far, there are only two ways left for Russia's car companies – either acquired by foreign auto giants like Lada's parent company AvtoVAZ, or gradually sealed in people's memories like the once-glorious Moskvitch.
Drawback 2: Lack of a perfect supplier system
In addition to the unstable development route, the redundant enterprise structure and the civilian industry that has been weak in the Soviet industrial system are also important reasons for the accumulation of the Soviet automobile industry. Compared with the complete supplier system of mature automobile markets such as the United States and Europe, most Soviet and Russian auto factories often cover an area of tens of kilometers, like a medium-sized city. In this, almost all aspects from metal smelting and stamping to windshield and steering wheel manufacturing are included. Because depots did not have any tendering or quality control systems, coupled with the Already weak light industrial base of the Soviet Union, most suppliers remained single and inferior for decades. Even if the car manufacturer has the intention to change the money, it will not help.
In this regard, the less pleasant cooperation plan between Porsche and Lada is very telling. As early as 1975, the Soviet Union and Porsche reached a cooperation agreement to improve the aging 2103 model, the engineering team from Zuffenhausen made a large number of upgrades for the new chassis suspension of the current car, and in terms of interior, the Germans installed the old model with a new style of instrumentation, better wrapped leather seats and almost the same steering wheel of the Porsche 928, when the Germans proposed to improve the engine power level, AvtoVAZ directly terminated the project. The root cause is that Elada's existing supplier system simply cannot provide the same level of spare parts, and if Western products are purchased directly, the production costs are completely uncontrollable.
Contrend 3: Bureaucracy is rampant
Under the national system, bureaucracy was almost inevitable, which also became a major "stubborn disease" that plagued the Soviet automobile industry. In addition to the serious situation of "laymen commanding insiders" within automobile manufacturing plants, even in the R&D department, the phenomenon of exaggeration is not uncommon. At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet government, which decided to vigorously develop the Far East, decided to import heavy trucks from Japan in small batches for forest transportation, and incidentally compared them with similar models in China.
Ironically, the actual performance of these trucks is diametrically opposed to the conclusions of the test reports of the "relevant experts", in which experts and truck drivers complained bitterly about the stability and ergonomic design of these Mitsubishi-FUSO and Komatsu trucks, saying that the cardan shafts, engines, differentials and shock absorbers of these vehicles were frequently faulted, and even at the end of the test, cracks appeared in the chassis of all vehicles and could not be used normally. In their view, the only advantage of these Japanese trucks was that they "traveled smoothly better than Soviet trucks."
The actual result was that the Soviet government has since imported 2,000 Japanese trucks and heavy construction machinery for forest production. The Japanese trucks that were "unreliable" in the report eventually became the prototypes of the Soviet Klaas heavy trucks.
Drawback four: lack of a healthy market environment
For a long time, the automobile industry in Soviet Russia has been developing in a closed market environment of a planned economy, and manufacturers lack healthy external competition, so car manufacturers do not need to care about the real needs of consumers. In this regard, the price of Soviet cars in the heyday of the 1970s is very telling, between 1971 and 1979, a VAZ 2102 touring sedan sold for up to 7000 rubles, and the slightly lower positioning of the Muscovite -2140 also sold for 6800 rubles. At that time, the average income of Soviets was 150 rubles, and even high-income groups such as university professors or doctors earned only 200 rubles a month. Even though buying a car requires years of family savings, supply still outstrips demand. Although the classic "Soviet joke" of "ten years later to pick up the car" is purely a personal interpretation of President Reagan, in the Soviet Union at that time, it was common to pay full payment and wait for a year to pick up the car.
If you still have no concept of the price of a car for 7000 rubles, we might as well use the international exchange rate at that time, 1 ruble in the 1970s can be exchanged for about 2 US dollars, so the VAZ 2102 touring sedan is sold for about 14,000 US dollars. For comparison, the 1976 Volkswagen Golf MK1 top-of-the-line model costs only $4,000, while the 1978 Cadillac Eldorado coupe with an 8.2L V8 engine costs only $12,000.
Editor's comments: After several ups and downs, the Russian automobile industry has achieved brilliant achievements, and finally ended up in a chicken feather. For the Chinese people, this is inevitably more lamentable, the former "mentor" has declined to this point, there is a "force majeure" of external factors, but more is the decision-making mistakes at the national level. For the automobile industry, which embodies the comprehensive national strength and is related to the people's livelihood, the government plays an important role in determining the direction of industrial development and guiding the allocation of resources, in addition to the coherence of policies, it is necessary to know how to skillfully balance between orderly market competition and macro-control. Looking at the mainland's automobile development road, from the market in the early stage of reform and opening up to technology, to the subsequent independent research and development, the establishment and improvement of the automobile industry system, and then to the leading new energy track today, completely open the market. It can be said that the mainland's development path is both down-to-earth and grasps the best time for each industrial transformation.
So, what kind of existence is the Russian auto market today, and what challenges and opportunities do a number of domestic car companies have in the face of this market? Take a look at the Russian automotive industry at a glance (part 2).