FSO car factory
Encyclopedia
Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO) (literally translated as Factory for Passenger Automobiles) is a Polish
automobile manufacturer, located in Warsaw
.
's eastern bank of the river Vistula
, to produce automobile
s for post World War II Poland
. The first FSO car was the Warszawa
, manufactured under the Soviet GAZ-M20 Pobeda
licence.
In 1953, an in-house team started development of a smaller, popular car, resulting in the second FSO model, a two-stroke Syrena
, introduced in 1957. The Syrena was a proprietary design of FSO; its production was next moved to FSM car factory (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych).
In 1965, the Polish government signed license agreements with the Italian
auto manufacturer Fiat
to manufacture selected Fiat models in Poland, under the brand Polski Fiat
. In particular, the Fiat 125
was to be manufactured at FSO to replace the outdated Warszawa. The resulting model, called Polski Fiat 125p
, was in fact a simplified model with Fiat 1300/1500
mechanicals, and was exported for some time under the names Fiat 125p and later, after the license agreement ended, FSO 1300/1500. It was also produced in station wagon and pick-up variants. Meanwhile, the Warszawa was manufactured concurrently until 1973.
In 1978, FSO introduced a new model, called Polonez
, a 5-door compact car based on updated FSO 1500 design. The Polonez was also exported to many markets under the FSO brand. This model was initially to substitute all variations of the original 1500, but actually the production of the latter lasted until 1991, and both models were updated a few times during that period.
The Fiat Polski 125P was produced until 26 June 1991. In total, 1,445,689 were manufactured. By that time the design was 24 years old and used mechanicals which were essentially 30 years old, with only minor improvements.
was signed to assemble Opel Astra
in Żerań. Nevertheless, the following year FSO was sold to the Korean
Daewoo Motors
, which was at that time a competitor of GM. The company was then renamed Daewoo-FSO.
At first, Daewoo used FSO to assemble models such as Daewoo Tico
and Daewoo Espero
. In 1997, the assembly and then full-fledged production of Daewoo Lanos
commenced, followed in 1999 by the Daewoo Matiz
. Other contemporary Daewoo models like Nubira
, Leganza
, Korando, Musso or Chairman were also assembled. The production of Polonez was maintained, the model was modernized and new body styles were added. Nevertheless, waning demand led FSO to cease Polonez production in 2002.
Meanwhile, General Motors decided to build their own factory in Poland, in Gliwice
, where the production of Opel Astra was relocated in 1998. GM's assembly line at FSO was then used for a short time to assemble Opel Vectra
for the local market and then shut down completely, ending the relationship with General Motors.
Through lengthy negotiations, the Polish government secured FSO the rights to manufacture and sell the Lanos and the Matiz until 2007. Nevertheless, FSO did not have the means to update the models, so they quickly became less and less attractive. Additionally, Daewoo's collapse caused buyers to become wary of Daewoo cars. FSO found salvation in the Ukrainian market, where Matiz and Lanos, assembled by the local partner AvtoZAZ
, became very popular. In 2004, Daewoo-FSO was renamed FSO again.
During that period, the Polish government was actively seeking a new strategic partner for FSO, but no major automaker expressed interest. Finally, FSO entered talks with the British MG Rover, but as talks progressed it became apparent that the British company did not have the means to complete the deal despite suggestions of the involvement of an (alternating) Chinese partner. MG Rover went into administration in 2005, putting an end to any hopes connected with it.
Consequently, the UkrAVTO
, the owner of ZAZ
, became the only possible partner for FSO. The Ukrainian company gradually became a majority shareholder of FSO (84.31% of shares), while at the same time strengthening the cooperation between FSO and ZAZ. UkrAVTO suggested it will provide a new model for the FSO to manufacture after the Matiz and Lanos licenses expire.
In mid-2006 the parent company of FSO, UkrAVTO, signed a license agreement with General Motors
to produce the Chevrolet Aveo
(T250) sedan, and since July 2008, the 3 and 5-door hatchback. For the production of the Aveo a new company was formed, whose shareholders were FSO (60%) and GM (40%); FSO provided the plant, while GM provided the finances. The first Aveo rolled off the FSO plant on 11 July 2007.
The license for the production of Aveo expired in February 2011 and it was not resumed for the next generation model.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
automobile manufacturer, located in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
The beginnings
The FSO plant was established in 1951 by the Polish government in Żerań on WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
's eastern bank of the river Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, to produce automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s for post World War II Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The first FSO car was the Warszawa
Warszawa (car)
Warszawa was a Polish automobile marque manufactured from 1951 to 1973 by the Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych of Warsaw.The Warszawa was the first new-design Polish car built after the Second World War. Warszawas were popular as taxis because of their sturdiness and ruggedness. However, due to their...
, manufactured under the Soviet GAZ-M20 Pobeda
GAZ-M20 Pobeda
The GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" was a passenger car produced in the Soviet Union by GAZ from 1946 until 1958. It was also licensed to Polish Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych.The first Pobeda was developed in the Soviet Union under chief engineer Andrei A. Liphart...
licence.
In 1953, an in-house team started development of a smaller, popular car, resulting in the second FSO model, a two-stroke Syrena
Syrena
The Syrena was a Polish automobile model first exhibited at the Poznań Trade Fair in 1955 and manufactured from 1957 to 1972 by the Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych in Warsaw and from 1972 to 1983 by FSM in Bielsko-Biała. 177,234 were made by FSO and 344,077 by FSM, a total of 521,311...
, introduced in 1957. The Syrena was a proprietary design of FSO; its production was next moved to FSM car factory (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych).
The Polski Fiat and Polonez Era
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
auto manufacturer Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
to manufacture selected Fiat models in Poland, under the brand Polski Fiat
Polski Fiat
Polski Fiat was a Polish car brand. Under this brand, cars under licence of the Italian manufacturer FIAT were manufactured or assembled in Poland.-Before World War II:...
. In particular, the Fiat 125
Fiat 125
The Fiat 125 is a large family car introduced by Fiat in 1967 and produced by them until 1972. Derivatives were built under license outside Italy until the 1990s...
was to be manufactured at FSO to replace the outdated Warszawa. The resulting model, called Polski Fiat 125p
Polski Fiat 125p
The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and...
, was in fact a simplified model with Fiat 1300/1500
Fiat 1300/1500
The Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500 are large family cars manufactured by the Italian automaker Fiat Auto from 1961 to 1967, which replaced the Fiat 1200. The 1300 and 1500 were essentially identical except for engine displacement, as indicated by model names...
mechanicals, and was exported for some time under the names Fiat 125p and later, after the license agreement ended, FSO 1300/1500. It was also produced in station wagon and pick-up variants. Meanwhile, the Warszawa was manufactured concurrently until 1973.
In 1978, FSO introduced a new model, called Polonez
FSO Polonez
The FSO Polonez is a Polish motor vehicle produced from 1978 to 2002. The car name comes from the Polish dance, polonaise.-Background:The Polonez is a rebodied Polski Fiat 125p that Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych built under license from Fiat...
, a 5-door compact car based on updated FSO 1500 design. The Polonez was also exported to many markets under the FSO brand. This model was initially to substitute all variations of the original 1500, but actually the production of the latter lasted until 1991, and both models were updated a few times during that period.
The Fiat Polski 125P was produced until 26 June 1991. In total, 1,445,689 were manufactured. By that time the design was 24 years old and used mechanicals which were essentially 30 years old, with only minor improvements.
The Daewoo Era
After the structural transformations of 1989, the Polish government sought to privatise the FSO by establishing a partnership with an international automaker. Despite many attempts and negotiations, this was not the case for many years. The first full-fledged venture started in 1994, when an agreement with General MotorsGeneral Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
was signed to assemble Opel Astra
Opel Astra
The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...
in Żerań. Nevertheless, the following year FSO was sold to the Korean
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
Daewoo Motors
GM Daewoo
GM Korea Company is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer and is a division of the General Motors Company. GM Korea's roots go back to the former Daewoo which was split from its parent company, Daewoo Group, in 2001...
, which was at that time a competitor of GM. The company was then renamed Daewoo-FSO.
At first, Daewoo used FSO to assemble models such as Daewoo Tico
Daewoo Tico
The Daewoo Tico is a city car produced by the Korean automaker Daewoo from 1991 to 2001.The Tico was based on the 1988 Suzuki Alto. The car was equipped with a three-cylinder 796 cc S-TEC engine and had a five-speed manual transmission or three-speed automatic transmission. The Tico was...
and Daewoo Espero
Daewoo Espero
The Daewoo Espero is a mid-size car produced by the South Korean company Daewoo Motors from 1990 to 1997. It was technically based on the GM J platform and had the distinction of a body designed by Bertone. It bore more than a passing resemblance to the Citroën Xantia, itself also a Bertone design...
. In 1997, the assembly and then full-fledged production of Daewoo Lanos
Daewoo Lanos
The Daewoo Lanos is a subcompact car manufactured by the Korean automaker Daewoo Motor from 1997 to 2002. It was manufactured under license agreements from 1997 to 2008 by Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych in Poland, where it was marketed as the FSO Lanos, from 1998 to present in Ukraine by AvtoZAZ,...
commenced, followed in 1999 by the Daewoo Matiz
Daewoo Matiz
-M100 :The production of Daewoo Matiz started in 1998 and it was sold in South Korea and many European markets with the code name M100. The exterior design is based on the Lucciola, a Fiat Cinquecento concept by Italdesign Giugiaro which had been rejected by Fiat. The 0.8-litre gasoline engine and...
. Other contemporary Daewoo models like Nubira
Daewoo Nubira
The Daewoo Nubira is a compact car produced by South Korean automaker Daewoo Motors from 1997 to 2008.The first generation car, model J100, was released to the market in 1997 as Daewoo Nubira, and it was sold until 1999. It was developed as a replacement for the GM T platform-based Daewoo Nexia and...
, Leganza
Daewoo Leganza
The Daewoo Leganza is a mid-size sedan produced by the former Daewoo Motors in South Korea between 1997 and 2002. Its internal development name was V100, under which it and its platform are also known....
, Korando, Musso or Chairman were also assembled. The production of Polonez was maintained, the model was modernized and new body styles were added. Nevertheless, waning demand led FSO to cease Polonez production in 2002.
Meanwhile, General Motors decided to build their own factory in Poland, in Gliwice
Gliwice
Gliwice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Gliwice is the west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
, where the production of Opel Astra was relocated in 1998. GM's assembly line at FSO was then used for a short time to assemble Opel Vectra
Opel Vectra
The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...
for the local market and then shut down completely, ending the relationship with General Motors.
Post-Daewoo FSO
Daewoo went bankrupt in 2000, leading to an acute deterioration of FSO's position in the industry. Daewoo Motors was bought out by General Motors (and its Asian partners), but overseas manufacturing subsidiaries such as Daewoo-FSO were not part of the deal. Therefore, FSO became de facto independent again.Through lengthy negotiations, the Polish government secured FSO the rights to manufacture and sell the Lanos and the Matiz until 2007. Nevertheless, FSO did not have the means to update the models, so they quickly became less and less attractive. Additionally, Daewoo's collapse caused buyers to become wary of Daewoo cars. FSO found salvation in the Ukrainian market, where Matiz and Lanos, assembled by the local partner AvtoZAZ
AvtoZAZ
AvtoZAZ is an automotive manufacturing company in Ukraine. It was founded in 1975 as Industrial Association, а holding that incorporated ZAZ, MeMZ, Illichivsk Automobile Parts Plant and a number of other automobile-production facilities in Lutzk and Kherson...
, became very popular. In 2004, Daewoo-FSO was renamed FSO again.
During that period, the Polish government was actively seeking a new strategic partner for FSO, but no major automaker expressed interest. Finally, FSO entered talks with the British MG Rover, but as talks progressed it became apparent that the British company did not have the means to complete the deal despite suggestions of the involvement of an (alternating) Chinese partner. MG Rover went into administration in 2005, putting an end to any hopes connected with it.
Consequently, the UkrAVTO
Ukrainian Automobile Corporation
Ukrainian Automobile Corporation JSC or UkrAVTO is a Ukrainian automobile manufacturing and service company, as well as Ukraine's largest automobile distributor. It was founded in 1969 as the Ukraine Motor Vehicles Maintenance Department - a reorganisation of diverse car manufacturing, parts,...
, the owner of ZAZ
ZAZ
ZAZ or Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant is the main automobile-manufacturer of Ukraine, based in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhia. It is also known for its former mother company name, AvtoZAZ...
, became the only possible partner for FSO. The Ukrainian company gradually became a majority shareholder of FSO (84.31% of shares), while at the same time strengthening the cooperation between FSO and ZAZ. UkrAVTO suggested it will provide a new model for the FSO to manufacture after the Matiz and Lanos licenses expire.
In mid-2006 the parent company of FSO, UkrAVTO, signed a license agreement with General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
to produce the Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Aveo
The Chevrolet Aveo is a subcompact automobile manufactured since 2002, originally by the South Korean General Motors subsidiary, GM Daewoo—and later by other GM-affiliated entities...
(T250) sedan, and since July 2008, the 3 and 5-door hatchback. For the production of the Aveo a new company was formed, whose shareholders were FSO (60%) and GM (40%); FSO provided the plant, while GM provided the finances. The first Aveo rolled off the FSO plant on 11 July 2007.
The license for the production of Aveo expired in February 2011 and it was not resumed for the next generation model.
See also
- SyrenaSyrenaThe Syrena was a Polish automobile model first exhibited at the Poznań Trade Fair in 1955 and manufactured from 1957 to 1972 by the Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych in Warsaw and from 1972 to 1983 by FSM in Bielsko-Biała. 177,234 were made by FSO and 344,077 by FSM, a total of 521,311...
- Warszawa
- PolonezFSO PolonezThe FSO Polonez is a Polish motor vehicle produced from 1978 to 2002. The car name comes from the Polish dance, polonaise.-Background:The Polonez is a rebodied Polski Fiat 125p that Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych built under license from Fiat...
- Nysa van
- ŻukZukThe Żuk was a van and light truck produced in Lublin, Poland, between 1958 and 1998 by FSC. It was based on FSO Warszawa which in turn was a copy of a Soviet passenger car GAZ-M20 Pobeda. The chassis, suspension and engine from FSO Warszawa formed the basis of the Żuk and the Nysa light vans...