The distance from Moscow, the heart of Russia, to its most western coast is seven times the distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town and incorporates greater diversity in terrain and climate than the whole of the African subcontinent.
It is a country where temperatures can vary from minus 40°C in winter to plus
40°C in summer. Such conditions no doubt presented numerous challenges to automotive engineers and manufacturers as they sought to successfully engineer product for export, something that they have done to virtually all continents - Africa being one of them.
Russian products have been in Africa for many years, this in association with the former USSR's relentless onslaught of communistic aspirations and ideals over virtually the whole sub-continent. Much was done by the Russians in those years to ingratiate themselves with countries in the sub continent, part of the strategy being the supply of Russian vehicles which included KAMAZ trucks, UAZ jeeps, Lada's and URALAZ , most as military derivatives.
Their latest accession, however, has none of those former connotations but rather brings a partial solution to the ever burgeoning problem of the taxi industry which, in part, is being addressed by the government's taxi recapitalisation program.
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SCENES IN MOSCOW
The imposing former KGB headquarters (right) with a GaZelle van bottom right. Below is Eugene's travel companion, Jothan Msibi, enjoying the local berry brew which is also sold from 'pup' trailers (bottom right) by street vendors as a popular refresher. |
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While most interested parties are familiar with the constraints and opportunities afforded the industry, it is heartening to see that some organisations, notably McCarthy's, South Africa's largest motor retail organisation, have put their weight behind offering safe affordable alternative transport to the aging but ubiquitous HiAce taxi.
A better understanding of the impact that the Russian GAZ vehicle will have on the market needs to be understood in terms of developments in recent years in the Russian Automotive industry. With the dismantling of the USSR and a freeing up of the Russian economy, the automotive sector was badly affected. The previously guaranteed market which assimilated vast quantities of vehicle production of, among others, GAZ vehicles, was no longer a sure thing.
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Igor Sorvachev, general director of Samotlor Ltd, with translator (right) alongside a 25-seater bus built on a Valdai chassis.
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A 4x4 drive train lurks under the skin of these 16-seater GAZ minibuses. |
Reminiscent of the American school bus is the SATCO based mass carrier. |
Bennie Eizenberg, executive director of GAZ South Africa, alongside a milestone GaZelle MCV |
Former Soviet countries were granted greater latitude with regard to vehicle selection, part of which included western commercial vehicles. I was advised by the then (1999) Russian embassy trade counsellor, Maxim Piminov, that with the collapse of the communist system, production at the GAZ plant dropped from 200 000 plus to about 10 000 vehicles per annum. This, in itself, resulted in unique arrangements, some of which included barter agreements which up until about four years ago, accounted for some 70% of GAZ production.
This dramatic reversal of circumstances dictated that vehicle plants maintained their competitiveness by, among other things:
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modernising their production facilities,
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introducing a higher levels of quality control,
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producing visually pleasing designs
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increasing exports as the local market became flooded with western vehicles, both new and used.
The GAZ factory, which currently produces about 250 000 units per annum, has successfully risen to the challenge addressing all of the aforementioned criteria in an aggressive yet market sensitive initiative.
In its drive to introduce vehicles to previously untapped markets, GAZ developed a wide range of models on the GaZelle platform, one of which was the taxi vehicle recently launched in South Africa.
The Gazelle's design, monocoque body on separate frame ladder chassis, contributes to a robust structure. This will benefit owners not only in the minibus taxi market but also in its commercial application where issues such as ease and low cost of maintenance are important
The commercial range of vehicles which will form part of its growing presence in time will consists of
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Single cab - payload exceeding 1 500 kg.
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Double cab. While the short load body is a logical choice, I did see an extended load body on the double cab while in Russia.
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Panel van - this may be a little while in coming as the tooling up for the sliding door for RHD application still has to be finalised.
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Panel van Crew-Cab. Particularly attractive here is the four abreast seating configuration in the 2nd row. Ditto for the double cab.
Taking cognisance of the robust chassis configuration - leaf springs front and rear - the vehicle is bound to appeal to markets which demand tough dirt road capability and ease of maintenance.
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Moscow's streets are populated by GAZ vehicles of all types such as this double cab below. On the right is an early GAZ product based on a Ford derivative on show in a Russian museum and below right is a pre-face lifted GaZelle double cab on a 'mid summer's day' in Nishny. |
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Part of the GAZ strategy was to develop an intermediate range of vehicles, equally as versatile as the Gazelle but with increased payload. Recently released but no doubt already being planned for RHD markets, is the Valdai medium truck, a vehicle with a payload of 3 500 kgs plus. The vehicle shares some features as well as some Gazelle components, this with obvious benefits.
Drive train at the time of writing is a 4 cylinder diesel sourced from Minsk. These engines, as with the petrol engines found in most of the GaZelle vehicles in Russia, are outsourced and not assembled in plant as is the Steyr engine used in SA Gazelle models.
Exports from Russia - supported by their own MIDP program - now total some 50 000 units with plans to increase this by a further 50% in the next three years. Close to the Russian border sits Turkey which takes a steady number of GAZ vehicles. Photographed at the GAZ plant were several Renault trucks which, in the process of delivering Renault passenger vehicles (produced in Turkey) to Russia, complete their round trip by collecting GAZ vehicles for delivery to Turkey. Heavy duty truckers such as Gurcel do a twice weekly round trip of 6 000 kms which includes a boat trip across the Black Sea.
Those acquainted with GAZ vehicles know of the GaZelle 16 seater minibus but many are unaware of the variety of other vehicles supplied by the group - RusPromAuto. A range of buses (accounting for 90% of the market) as well as purpose built military vehicles, come from the same stable.
Manufactured by GAZ is the SATCO model (5 ton plus) which features prominently in military application as a 4x4, as well as in commercial applications. Extremely rugged in design and application are the UralAz vehicles - manufactured in the Ural region - which come in a variety of derivatives. Tested over a year ago in the forests outside of Nizhny Novgorod (location of plant) was a selection of 4x4's, 6x6's and best of all, an 8x8. I was advised (without being able to substantiate it) that these vehicles are used by the US for patrols on the Mexican border.
There are great things happening in Russia and all things being equal, their plants will be capable of producing some pretty amazing product in the future. Already the GAZ vehicles in South Africa, which are fitted with the Steyr engine, are Euro 2 compliant and apparently with little modification, will meet Euro 3 specifications.
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A number of truck marques can be seen on Russian streets. Above is a Deutz; top right is a Renault which transports GAZ products to Turkey; and right is a Kamaz tipper in front of the famous Bolshoi Theatre. |
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Notwithstanding these developments, the country is still fighting its way into the 21st centaury (automotive wise) for even in the city of Moscow, one finds modern product, cars and trucks juxtaposed with seemingly ancient - but still functional - vehicles.
A drive down the main road that runs into Red square - previously known as Gorky street (as in the movie) - one finds the most diverse range of passenger vehicles but commercial models still reflect a Russian flavour. In this same street, the different GaZelle models were as prolific as are VWs in South Africa.
The full range (panel van to ambulance) were seen virtually one after the other while heavy stuff, such as KAMAZ tipper trucks were the norm for heavy transport. Nizhny Novgorod - a city with a population of 1,5 million - on the other hand, has the greatest, understandably so, proliferation of GAZ products - from Mini bus taxis to Volga passenger vehicles, an from Satco trucks through to Special Purpose Vehicles
The Russian commercial vehicle market, not dissimilar to South Africa, has specialist conversions to vehicles undertaken, not by the factory but by specialist organisations. One such company that was visited in Nizhny Novgorod offers conversions to the full spectrum of Russian vehicles with particular emphasis on the Gazelle range - converted to Ambulances, Cash in Transit and Fire tenders, among others.
Igor Sorvachev is general director of Samotlor Ltd that produces about 1 500 to 2 000 specialist vehicles per annum. Interviewed at the launch of their new maxi-bus, Sorvachev was decidedly upbeat about the potential of the market and stated, as proof of their success, that "the factory is capable of turning out 5 000 vehicles per annum".
As further proof of its high standard of workmanship, Samotlor conversions carry the N.A.M.I. mark, which is more or less the equivalent of the SABS mark. This type approval is valid in Russia and all CIS (formerly part of the USSR) countries and has allowed considerable growth in their own export capabilities.
Any who doubt the potential of the
Russian automotive industry need only take a trip (by invitation only) to the manufacturing centres, two of which are Togliati and Nizhny Novgorod. The sheer dynamism of these plants, particularly with regard to developments in the commercial vehicle sector, is something to behold.
In a tour of the GAZ plant, it is not uncommon to meet company representatives from the USA, Britain and Germany who are assisting in restructuring operations, while in the local Hotel - owned by GAZ - potential buyers from India, Africa and South America are huddled in discussions about the potential of the growing Russian bear.
Problems not withstanding, there are "billboards" reflecting progress - from the massive explosion of new vehicle models to the huge construction projects and right down to the simple coats of new paint seen in the train station.
Yes, not only have the Russians come but they are also going places - and quickly it would appear.
