The story
LIAZ's headquarters in Liberec were originally occupied by the former Reichenberger Automobil Fabrik (RAF). RAF opened its Liberec plant in 1907, was bought by Laurin & Klement in 1912, and in 1916 moved its production technology to Mladá Boleslav, leaving Liberec's production facilities to textile entrepreneurs.
Škoda LIAZ's main truck plants were located in Liberec, Rýnovice, Mnichovo Hradiště, and Jablonec nad Nisou. Eventually, factories were opened in Mělník, Zvolen, Veľký Krtíš, Přerov, and Holýšov. LIAZ gradually expanded, employing 11,000 workers and producing 13,600 utility vehicles annually by 1975. In the 1970s, LIAZ was the largest Czechoslovak truck manufacturer, with an annual production of 15,000 trucks and plants operating at full capacity.
However, after the 1989 revolution and subsequent economic problems, LIAZ lost almost all of its sales and was unable to find new customers, leading to a gradual decline in production. Not even the introduction of a new, modern Škoda 400 line (Xena and Fox) could improve the company's fortunes. In 2000, the company was bought by Slovakian Sipox Holding, which lacked sufficient funds to sustain production. Production of LIAZ vehicle ceased in September 2003.
In 2006, Tedom Truck, based in Třebíč, acquired all rights to produce LIAZ trucks, including the factory, technical documentation, and engine production know-how. It produced the Fox model line and modernized older LIAZ vehicles. However, the company went into liquidation on January 1, 2010. Due to financial difficulties, only 19 vehicles were produced annually out of the planned 5,000, with only nine being modernized LIAZ models.
The LIAZ brand was acquired by the Czechoslovak Group, and on December 22, 2017, LIAZ Trucks was established.
From Wikipedia’s article on Liberecké Automobilové Závody, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5