TAZ-Tvornica Autobusa Zagreb

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Tvornica Autobusa Zagreb (TAZ) was a Yugoslav and Croatian bus and truck manufacturer, headquartered in Dubrava, Zagreb. The company’s most famous product was the TAZ Dubrava 14. It became defunct in 2000.

Production of buses, which were based on a wooden frame, started in Zagreb in 1930. In 1948, it adopted the name “Autokaroserija Zagreb”, but production still rested on the buses based on a wooden frame.

In 1950, cooperation was established with the factory FAP from Priboj, Serbia and Famos (Fabrika Motora Sarajevo) from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and in 1954 the factory TAZ was transferred to the district Dubrava in Zagreb. In 1969, the company founded FAP Famos Beograd which included FAP, Famos and TAZ, as well as Sanos from Skopje, North Macedonia. Sanos and the TAZ Dubrava had a similar design for the middle part of the body, while the front was different. In the same year, collaboration started with Daimler-Benz, and a modern model range was produced. In 1980, the factory employed 1,200 people, produced an average of 500-600 vehicles (up 900), and exported buses to, among others, China, Finland, and Egypt. In 1991, when Croatia gained its independence and disconnected from Yugoslavia, production began to decline sharply, and in the late 1990s stopped completely which resulted from, among others, a reduction in the home market (adapted from Wikipedia).

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