ZIS

The factory in Moscow was started in 1916 by the Moscow Automotive Society (AMO) and built its first vehicle, the AMO-F-15, on 1 November 1924. Between 1929 and 1931 it was re-equipped and expanded with the help of the American firm A. J. Brandt, and on 1 October 1931 it was renamed Zavod imeni Stalina, ZIS in short, after the Soviet leader.

In 1941 the plant was evacuated eastward to Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk, Miass and Shadrinsk, and these works carried on as separate enterprises after the war. ZIS helped set up China’s First Automotive Works in 1953, and the Jiefang CA-10, the first Chinese-made truck, was based on the ZIS-150. On 26 June 1956, during de-Stalinisation, the factory was renamed ZiL after its former director Ivan Likhachev.