«Volga» — a mid-range passenger car of the Gorky Automobile Plant and one of the principal Nizhny Novgorod marques. The first generation went into production in 1956; the GAZ-21, GAZ-24, GAZ-3102 and other models appeared under this name, and the last saloon, the GAZ-31105, came off the line in 2009.[2] In 2024 the marque was revived: a new passenger car production was prepared in Nizhny Novgorod under the name VOLGA, and series production began in the second quarter of 2026.[3]
GAZ-21: the first generation
The first «Volgas» went into production in 1956.[2] In the West the GAZ-21 was called «a tank in tails» — for its powerful body and tin-treated underside combined with an elegant appearance.[1]
For the model's fiftieth anniversary, in August 2006, a jubilee motor rally ran from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod: more than sixty cars from various regions of Russia and CIS countries drove in the column — both in original factory trim and noticeably modernised. On the evening of 18 August an exhibition and parade of GAZ-21s was held on Kiselyov Square by the GAZ Palace of Culture, and the next day the participants visited the Museum of the History of GAZ and drove in a column to Minin Square.[6]
By that time clubs of GAZ-21 connoisseurs and a market for restored «Volgas» had already taken shape in Russia.[6]
How the GAZ-24 was born
The first prototypes of the GAZ-24 — plasticine models — appeared at the Gorky Automobile Plant in 1962. They were sculpted in the so-called «Greek hall» of the Directorate of Design and Experimental Work, where the shapes of new cars were worked out.[1]
On 31 December 1962, a few hours before the chimes struck, the first running prototype was released: the car made several circuits of the plant and returned to the shop. Further tests also took place around the automotive giant and only at night, so that no one would see what the new «Volga» looked like.[1]
The model was expected to be produced in large volumes, and for this the plant was modernised with the construction of several new production facilities.[1]
The GAZ-24 on the assembly line
Series production of the GAZ-24 began on 15 July 1970.[1] The design allowed three engine variants: mass-produced cars were given a four-cylinder engine, while the eight-cylinder, the same as on the «Chaikas», went only to cars for special purposes.[1]
By order of the USSR State Planning Committee the plant sent a third of its entire output — which reached 75 thousand cars a year — to taxi fleets. Another 25 thousand or so went for export, mainly to China and the countries of Eastern Europe; at the end of the 1970s the GAZ-24 was the most widespread car in China.[1]
A significant part of the cars went to party bodies, and few reached open sale: they were distributed to cosmonauts, People's Artists and other distinguished people. Black GAZ-24s were particularly prized — on the secondary market up to 15 thousand roubles was asked for them.[1]
The engine power was 95 horsepower, the car accelerated to a hundred kilometres an hour in 15 seconds and was stable on the road.[1]
The plant and the city
The «Volga» was the engine of the whole city's development: in 1989–1991 the plant employed 127 thousand people — from all over Gorky.[1]
It was for the sake of the car workers that the metro came to the city. At a session of the bureau of the regional party committee it was decided to run the first line from the Moscow railway station to the automobile plant, where the passenger flow was greatest, and on 17 December 1977 the first piles were driven into the foundation of the «Leninskaya» station.[1]
The end of the assembly line
In 1992–1993 the era of the GAZ-24 came to an end: the plant was moving over to the GAZ-31029, which also went into the garages of the power structures. Demand for «Volgas» did not slacken in the 1990s, the shops worked three shifts, and wages were not delayed.[1]
A modification of the 24th, the GAZ-2410, was produced until 2003, but with the arrival of a new owner the plant concentrated on light trucks.[1] The last «Volga» saloon, the GAZ-31105, came off the line in 2009; after that a «Volga» could be seen mainly in the museum of the history of GAZ.[2]
A marque without a car
The name stayed with the plant even after the cars ceased to be produced. In July 2022 the Nizhny Novgorod company OOO «Automobile Plant „GAZ“» filed an application with Rospatent for the registration of the three-dimensional trademarks «Chaika» and «Volga-21» — images of the «Chaika GAZ-13» and «Volga GAZ-21» cars.[7]
The GAZ Group explained that it owns the marks «Chaika» and «Volga» in the categories of vehicles and toys, and that the three-dimensional marks were being registered for souvenir production: the interest of fans of the marque in souvenirs bearing the plant's symbols is great.[7]
Until 2022 contract assembly of Volkswagen and Skoda cars was carried out at the Gorky Automobile Plant; after these marques left Russia the production areas stood idle.[3]
The revival of the marque
Talk of resuming production of the «Volga» first arose in 2022: it was announced by Denis Manturov, then minister of industry and trade. The talk continued in 2023 — governor Gleb Nikitin spoke of work on launching production of the historic cars, and Manturov named an approximate date, the summer of 2024.[3]
On 21 May 2024, at the «CIPR» conference in Nizhny Novgorod, a pre-premiere showing of Volga cars took place. The first to inspect them was the chairman of the Government of Russia, Mikhail Mishustin: he called the car handsome and modern and instructed that attention be paid to the localisation not only of critically important components but of simple elements as well.[2][3]
Three models were shown then: the VOLGA C40 (a D-class saloon), the VOLGA K30 (a C-class crossover) and the VOLGA K40 (a D-class crossover). Motoring experts pointed out that these were rebadged models of the Chinese concern Changan: the C40 saloon was the Changan Raeton Plus, the K30 crossover the Oshan X5 Plus, and the K40 crossover the Changan UNI-Z. What distinguished them from the Chinese cars was the front end with a chrome radiator grille — a nod to the style of the earlier «Volgas» — and the GAZ emblems with a silver deer on a red ground.[2]
Production was entrusted to the company «Passenger Car Production», which invested about 60 billion roubles, in the passenger car shops of the GAZ plant. All three cars shown had a single petrol engine of 188 horsepower and a seven-speed automatic gearbox.[2]
Later the Chinese brand Geely became the project's partner in place of Changan.[3] In the autumn of 2025 it was reported that the first stages of production would begin in the spring of 2026, while the brand's press service specified that series production would start in the second quarter of 2026, with a maximum plant capacity of 110 thousand cars a year.[3]
The 2026 model range
The project officially started in February 2026, and in the summer the cars appeared at the first dealers.[5] The model range was made up of three cars: the flagship crossover VOLGA K50, the mid-size crossover VOLGA K40 and the business-class saloon VOLGA C50.[4]
- VOLGA K50 — length 4,770 mm, width 1,895 mm, height 1,689 mm, wheelbase 2,845 mm; price from 3,999,000 roubles taking into account trade-in and the distributor's credit subsidy.[4]
- VOLGA K40 — length 4,678 mm, width 1,900 mm, height 1,705 mm, wheelbase 2,760 mm; price from 2,699,000 roubles on the same terms.[4]
- VOLGA C50 — length 4,825 mm, width 1,880 mm, height 1,469 mm, wheelbase 2,800 mm; price from 2,899,000 roubles taking into account trade-in.[4]
What the new cars are like
The K40 crossover is fitted with a two-litre engine of 200 horsepower and a classic Aisin automatic; all-wheel drive on all the brand's crossovers is provided by BorgWarner couplings. Ground clearance is 215 millimetres, boot volume 650 litres, and acceleration to a hundred kilometres an hour 8.6 seconds. Inside there is a 13-inch vertical multimedia screen and a 10-inch digital instrument panel.[5]
The C50 saloon is marked by a restrained European design and a wide radiator grille with vertical lines — a nod to the executive saloons of earlier years. The boot holds 500 litres. The wheelbase of the new saloon and of the historic «Volga» is the same, while the car itself is about a hundred millimetres longer than its predecessor.[5]
The marque is headed by Tatyana Fadeyeva. According to her, production was launched in Nizhny Novgorod — the brand's homeland and the very site where the historic cars were produced — so no question arose about the name; development is built on the best available international platforms, on the basis of which it is intended to create one of their own.[5]
Sources
- nn.aif.ru — Argumenty i Fakty — Nizhny Novgorod — «Volga» with all that follows. The famous GAZ-24 car is 55 years old, 13 July 2025 (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The revived «Volga»: everything known about the new Nizhny Novgorod cars, gathered together, 22 May 2024 (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The revival of a legend: what is known about the updated «Volga», 19 February 2026 (archive)
- volga.auto — The brand's official site: model range, dimensions and prices (archive)
- volga.auto — The first generation of cars of the revived brand, 28 July 2026
- nn.aif.ru — Argumenty i Fakty — Nizhny Novgorod — The jubilee GAZ-21 «Volga» motor rally began on 18 August, 21 August 2006 (archive)
- nn.aif.ru — Argumenty i Fakty — Nizhny Novgorod — «GAZ» has filed an application for the registration of the trademarks «Chaika» and «Volga-21», 15 July 2022 (archive)