Recently, news from Tolyatti has been arriving with commendable regularity. No sooner had we reported on the debut of a new generation of engines and the start of serial production of the significantly updated Niva Legend, than we had to fly back to the homeland of AVTOVAZ. This time, the grand opening of a new production line for optics for the upcoming Lada Azimut crossover took place there.
Let us note right away that the new production facility does not directly belong to AVTOVAZ, since the modern automotive industry in any case involves cooperation with hundreds of suppliers and various related enterprises. The production of lighting equipment for the Azimut was undertaken by the company "Lighting Solutions," founded in September 2023 and located on the territory of the special economic zone "Tolyatti." To date, the company has mastered assembly, plastic part molding, and the production of modern LED optics.
The company supplies headlights and taillights for models such as the Granta, Niva Travel, and Largus, as well as fog lights for the Granta, Largus, and Iskra, to the assembly lines of the Tolyatti automobile plant. However, the production of modern optics for the new Azimut crossover required a kind of technological leap: the company became the first in Russia to master three-component molding of large-sized parts.
1.9 billion rubles were invested in the new technological lines, and the total investment in the project exceeded 3.5 billion rubles. The work was carried out, of course, in cooperation with AVTOVAZ, as well as with the support of the Samara Region government and the Industrial Development Fund.
The key component of the new line was a modern high-power injection molding machine – an automated injection molding machine used for manufacturing parts from thermoplastics by injection molding. This machine is truly impressive: it provides a clamping force of 2800 tons, which allows for the production of a one-piece taillight of complex geometry, the length of a tailgate – that is, almost the width of the car. No less impressive is the multi-ton mold – the heart of the injection molding machine, where the direct formation of the final product takes place.
The significance of the new production for the plant was also emphasized by the President of AVTOVAZ, Maxim Sokolov: "I am confident that the project will become one of the jewels in the crown of our products." And here is the key moment: Giorgio Verducci, Maxim Sokolov, and the head of the Tolyatti administration, Ilya Sukhikh, simultaneously pressed the buttons, the machine started working, and after some time, the first produced central taillight for the Azimut crossover appeared on the output conveyor belt.
However, the lighting equipment of the Azimut is not only a new taillight but also a whole range of high-tech elements. For instance, the crossover's headlights are equipped with fully LED Lada Xvision elements, which use a patented cooling system in their design. This is necessary for the stable operation of the diodes, preventing overheating, and maintaining light brightness in different climatic conditions.
Well, overall, "Lighting Solutions" is quite ready to produce a complete set of lighting equipment for AVTOVAZ's new model – this includes headlights and daytime running light sections, as well as central, side, and fog lights. The enterprise's capacity is designed to produce up to 80 thousand sets of optics per year, which means that all the needs of the Tolyatti auto giant for lighting equipment for the Lada Azimut will be fully covered.
It is gratifying that the enterprise does not intend to rest on its laurels – thoughtful work is already underway to expand the product range. Time will tell how successful the Azimut itself will be, but it is pleasing that its light is being ignited here, in Russia. After all, the development of the automotive industry is measured not only by the number of cars produced but also by the number of technologies that the country has learned to create independently.
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