Today, on December 13, KAMAZ is celebrating the 52nd anniversary of the start of construction of its facilities in Naberezhnye Chelny.
By the mid ‘60s of the last century, it had been as difficult as never before to transport cargoes by truck. The demand was for brand new and up-to-date trucks – comfortable, powerful, multipurpose, efficient in any climatic and road conditions. At that time, the Russian government argued about the location of a new truck maker. At first, they considered eight sites, but then only two of them. Finally, they decided to erect the largest truck producing plant in Naberezhnye Chelny. December 13, 1969 is the day when the first bucket of earth was excavated at the construction site of the future KAMAZ plant. This date is traditionally considered to be the birthday of the automaker.
The number of plants on the Kama River occupies a vast territory of 57 square kilometers. KAMAZ received the latest technological equipment of that time. More than 700 foreign companies were involved in equipping the KAMAZ facilities. The plant was built in record time. Only seven years passed from this milestone, the start of KAMAZ history, to the first KAMAZ trucks rolling down from the conveyor. It took another four years to complete the planned construction of all production facilities.
The 52nd birthday of KAMAZ sees the company’s good production, financial and economic performance. Thus, within eleven months of 2021, KAMAZ produced 39,658 vehicles, which is a 20.6% y-o-y growth. At the same time, the company’s plants continue large-scale updating. New KAMAZ vehicles and dump trucks of the K5 generation joined the company’s line. To add to this, a line of innovative electric passenger vehicles is expanding. This year, KAMAZ introduced not only highly demanded models of electric buses and trolleybuses, but also developed a leading-edge vehicle – the first hydrogen fuel cell bus.