Derways Automobile Company (original) (raw)

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Derways Automobile Company


Native name	ООО Автомобильная компания «Дервэйс»
Company type	PLC private company
Industry	Automotive
Founded	2003; 21 years ago (2003)[1]
Headquarters	Cherkessk, Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia
Products	Automobiles
Number of employees	3,000
Parent	Merkuriy
Website	derways.ru

The Derways Automobile Company (ООО Автомобильная компания ДЕРВЕЙС (Avtomobil'naya kompaniya DERVEYS)) was a Russian automaker located in Cherkessk, Karachay-Cherkessia. The company was founded in 2003 as the first private car manufacturer of Russia and as a part of the Russian Mercury Group. Since June 2007 the company is building 100,000 units for the local market within a joint venture with the Chinese firms Lifan Group and Liaoning SG Automotive Group Co., Ltd. The second plant of Derways was opened in the fall 2009. About 3,000 workers were employed by Derways.

The name Derways is made up of two parts: Der - from the surname of the founders (Dereva brothers) and ways - from the English "roads".

2003 - Assembly of the prototype SUV Derways "Cowboy" (Derways 3131), first exhibited at the "Russian International Motor Show" in Moscow. The car was built on a Romanian ARO chassis and later Chinese chassis were used. "Cowboy" passed all the tests at the NAMI test site and received a certificate.
2004 - the opening of the plant and the start of mass production of cars. By the end of the year, the car plant is approaching the design level of production - 5,000 vehicles per year.
2006 - the plant suspends the production of Derways "Cowboy" due to the bankruptcy of ARO and begins the localization of Chinese cars. These were the Derways-313120/313121 Shuttle (320 vehicles produced), Derways-313150 Aurora (351 vehicles produced), Derways-313130 Land Crown (Xinkai HXK 2031E - copy of Toyota Land Cruiser 90. 33 produced) and Derways-313140 Saladin (copy of Nissan from Zhengzhou; 38 produced). A total of 788 cars were produced this year.
2007 - the plant begins production of the Derways-233300 Plutus pickup truck - a copy of the Chevrolet Colorado. A trilateral agreement was concluded with Lifan and the Avtomir group of companies for the assembly of SKD kits with the transition to SKD in the amount of at least 25,000 vehicles per year, starting from 2009. The modernization of the plant and the assembly of Lifan Breez cars have begun.
2009 - full-cycle production began, including welding, body painting and complete assembly of Lifan-7131A / 7161A Breez hatchbacks, performed at the facilities of the Derways-1 plant.[2]
2010 - another line with a capacity of 25,000 vehicles per year was put into operation in autumn. The production of Haima 3 cars of the Chinese company Hainan Mazda has begun. According to plans, 900 Haima 3 sedans and hatchbacks should be produced by the end of the year.
2011 - At the beginning of 2011, the third model of Haima 2 was put into production, it is based on Mazda 2.
2015 - due to a drop in sales of Chinese cars, production was reduced by 2 times.
2018 - the plant closed. Equipment dismantled.[3][4]

In November 2010, 51% of the shares of the Circassian automobile plant Derways were transferred to Sberbank of Russia due to the high debt of the company.[5]

As of February 2016, the shareholders of the company were Derev Hadzhi-Murat (President of the company, 44% of shares) and Romanov Alexander (Vice President, 5%).[6]

For 2019 Derev owned 44% of the company, Romanov — 5%, Sberbank of Russia — 51%.[7]

Initially, the company produced cars of its own design and then assembled cars from Chinese manufacturers such as Lifan, Chery, Geely, Brilliance, JAC, and Hawtai.

Derways Cowboy (2004–2007, original based on ARO chassis[8]) 313101, Derways 313102, Derways 313105.
Derways 313120 (based on the Dadi Shuttle BDD6491E)

Derways assembled Lifan 320

Derways Land Crown (since 2006, a rebadged Chinese copy version of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 90 Series)
Derways Aurora (since 2006, rebadged Huanghai Aurora)
Derways Shuttle (since 2006, rebadged Dadi Shuttle/Gonow Jetstar/Huanghai Challenger)
Derways Antelope (since 2007, a rebadged Gonow FAN/Troy)
Derways Plutus (since 2007, Pickup; a rebadged Huanghai Plutus, a copy of the Ssangyong Rexton)
Geely MK Cross (2011–present)[9]
Geely Emgrand (2012–present)[9]
Great Wall Hover (2010–present)[10]
Lifan Smily (since 2007)
Lifan Solano (since 2007)
Lifan Breeze (2007–2012)
Derways Saladin (since 2008, a rebadged version of the Nissan Paladin/Roniz)
Geely MK (2010–2018)[9]
TagAZ, a similar but now defunct Russian company.

Official website