Balkania was the trade name of 'K. Zacharopoulos A.B.E.E.' a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

industrial and trading company based in

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that produced 4x4 jeep-type vehicles and 4x4 trucks. Since 1945, K. Zacharopoulos had been involved in vehicle repair and rebuilding. The ''Balkania'' company was founded in 1954 and since 1972 it imported

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n and

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n vehicles. In 1975 it designed and introduced its own ''Autotractor'' model, a 4x4 multi-purpose truck with a

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3200 cc Diesel engine, metal cabin and a payload of . In 1979 the model was redesigned, with a modern synthetic (glass-fiber reinforced composite) cabin. It was produced, as some similar Greek vehicles, until a change of a favorable categorization for agricultural vehicles in 1984 limited its prospects (see also

AutoDiana AutoDiana was a Greek truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki, in business between 1975 and 1984. Its main product was the 'Unicar' truck. This robust vehicle had a payload of 1500 kg and used a Mercedes-Benz Diesel engine and Dodge axles. ...

, Petropoulos). The vehicle was modestly successful, as it exhibited certain quality problems. In 1975 Balkania also introduced a lighter ''Autotractor'' series of Jeep-type 4x4 vehicles. These were not of own design, but were actually modified Indian Mahindra models (in turn based on older U.S.

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models), using a

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2100 cc Diesel engine. The more modern-looking ''Autotractor KZ'' (from the founder's name initials) was available with the aforementioned engine, as well as a Peugeot 2500 cc gasoline engine. In 1984 the company was partially acquired by

Mahindra & Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

, the factory was modernized and its name was changed to ''Mahindra Hellas A.E.''. The model name ''Autotractor'' was dropped and all vehicles produced were Mahindra models sold with that name, although in somewhat modified versions. Most of this production was exported. The company went out of business in 1995.

References

*L.S. Skartsis and G.A. Avramidis, 'Made in Greece', Typorama, Patras, Greece (2003) (republished by the University of Patras Science Park, 2007).
L.S. Skartsis, "Greek Vehicle & Machine Manufacturers 1800 to present: A Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
(eBook)

External links

Dutch auto catalog
{{Automotive industry in Greece Greek companies established in 1954 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1954 1995 disestablishments in Greece Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct truck manufacturers Off-road vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Truck manufacturers of Greece Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Greece Manufacturing companies based in Athens 1984 mergers and acquisitions