Cuba, Russia cooperate in manufacture of buses

Cuba will produce suburban buses using chassis imported from Russia, the manufacturer of the chassis announced Monday.

From its headquarters in Nizhny-Novgorod, the GAZ Group announced that it has already delivered to Cuba 210 chassis Model PAZ-32053 and that it will deliver 120 more in the next quarter.

GAZ (Russian acronym for Gorki Automobile Factory) is Russia’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. It produces small and medium-size vehicles, heavy trucks, buses, cars, engines and replacement parts.

The Cuban bus built on the PAZ-32053 chassis will be called “Diana.” It will have a 130-horsepower engine and can carry 40 passengers ñ 26 sitting, 14 standing.

This is not the first time that Russia has cooperated with Cuba in the manufacture of domestic vehicles. Between 1979 and 1980, Cuba manufactured 15,000 buses mounted on the chassis Model PAZ-672, provided by PAZ (Russian acronym for Pavlov Automobile Factory), a subsidiary of the GAZ Group. Those buses were called “Girón.”

When making the announcement, GAZ president Bo Andersson did not reveal the cost of the transaction.