OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant and more commonly called ZiL, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia. The last ZiL vehicle was assembled in 2012. The company continues to exist only as real-estate development site, on which a new urban district will be built by the LSR Group construction company.
History
The factory was founded on 2 August 1916 as the Moscow Automotive Society or AMO. The factory was completed in 1917, just before the Revolution, and was built south of Moscow near Moscow River in Tjufeleva grove. It was a modern building with the latest in American equipment and was designed to employ 6,000 workers. The plans were to produce Fiat F-15 1.5-ton trucks under license. Because of the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War it took until 1 November 1924 to produce the first vehicle which was shown at a parade in 7 November, the AMO-F15. Nevertheless the factory still managed to assemble trucks bought from Italy in 1917-1919. In April 30 1923 the factory was named after an Italian coummunist Pietro Ferrero, but in 1925 was renamed to First National Automobile Factory. 2 years later in 1927 Ivan Likhachov was appointed as a head of the factory, a person whose name the factory bears from 1956. In April 1929, it was agreed on to expand the plant to build Autocar 2.5-ton truck models. In 1931 the factory was re-equipped and expanded with the help of the American A.J. Brandt Co., and changed its name to Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod Imeni Stalina. After Nikita Khrushchev denounced the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin in 1956, the name was changed again to Zavod imeni Likhachyova, after its former director Ivan Alekseevich Likhachov. ZiL lanes—road lanes dedicated to vehicles carrying top Soviet officials—were named after the car. The ZiL limousines were the official car that carried the Soviet heads of state, and many Soviet Union allied leaders, to summits or in parades. The limousines were flown to international summits as for example in 1990 to Washington DC for President Mikhail Gorbachev's official state visit. Zil has a history of exporting trucks to Cuba, a trade resumed in the early 21st century. The ZiL factory is portrayed in a 2014 documentary, The Last Limousine. After the final ZIL limousine was built in 2012, the Moscow factory administration stopped truck production and the company was declared bankrupt in 2013. ZiL still exists as a legal entity, but produces no vehicles. In 2014 it was announced that the factory site will be turned into a residential development. Most factory buildings were dismantled in 2015. The factory's equipment and other automotive assets were auctioned off to a new company, "MSTs6 AMO ZIL". It employs 47 staff, mostly former ZiL workers. The company took part in the Moscow International Automobile Salon 2016.
Awards
In June 1942 the VMS was awarded the first Order of Lenin for the excellent organization of the production of ammunition and weapons.
In November 1949 a second plant was awarded the Order of Lenin for merits in development of the Soviet autostructure and in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Soviet car.
In 1971 the plant was awarded the Order of Lenin for the third successful implementation of the Eighth Five-Year Plan.
In 1975 the plant was awarded the Order of the October Revolution for the successful completion of works on creation of capacities up to 200 thousand cars per year issuance.
