Csepel was a Hungarian manufacturer of

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s for industrial use.

History

Csepel trucks - match labels 1960s years Hungary

In 1944 the

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3r ...

380 truck was designed in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, licensing Csepel lorries and engines. Production of the

MÁVAG MÁVAG (''Magyar Királyi Államvasutak Gépgyára''; ''Hungarian Royal State Railroads' Machine Factory'') was the largest Hungarian rail vehicle producer. MÁVAG company was the second largest industrial enterprise after the Manfréd Weiss Stee ...

and the RÁBA lorries stopped after

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

in 1946. In 1947

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

bought the licence for the

380 lorry, D413 and D613 engines from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

. At this time, the Soviets occupied the Eastern part of Austria. In 1949 an automobile factory was established in the NIK (Nehéz Ipari Központ—en: Heavy Industry Center) at the earlier Dunai Repülőgépgyár—en: Danube Aircraft Factory place at Szigethalom. The first Csepel (NIK) engine was ready on 7 November. The first director of the factory was Ferencné Bíró. She was a mechanical engineer and had studied in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, sister-in-law of

Mátyás Rákosi Mátyás Rákosi (; born Mátyás Rosenfeld; 9 March 1892
– 5 February 1971) was a Hungarian communis ...

. The first 3 Csepel D-350 were ready on 3 April 1950. The D-350 and B-350 types were produced between 1950 and 1958. The B-130 4x4 rover pickup lorry began production in 1949. The prototypes were made in

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...

and Ikarus. It won a lorry race in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in 1950. During 1968–1975 the evolution of

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...

(Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) changed the way Csepel operated. Csepel began shipping the undercarriage of the Ikarus to other factories for completion. Labor-MIM in

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Dan ...

and later the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Jelcz Jelcz (pronounced like ''Yelch'' after the town of the same name) is a Polish brand of trucks, military vehicles, buses and trolley buses produced by ''Zakłady Samochodowe Jelcz''/''Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe'', with both names roughly ...

& Star performed the final assembly. In 1968 the Csepel started a new generation of RÁBA lorries incorporating the

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

engine (licensed). In 1975 the Csepel stopped engine production entirely, instead using the RÁBA engine. From 1976 to 1980 the factory built 1000 Volvo C202 Laplanders. In 1996 Csepel went bankrupt because Ikarus had not paid for the transported undercarriages, having not been paid by its own customers. In 2007 a D344 EZF lorry arrived with success on the

Budapest-Bamako The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Africa, and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally, and goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through t ...

Rally in the touring category. In 2009 a D420 fire-engine body built on a D344 undercarriage lorry arrived with success on the

Rally in the touring category.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in Hungary 1949 establishments in Hungary 1996 disestablishments in Hungary Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1949 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1996 Truck manufacturers of Hungary Hungarian brands Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Hungary Szigetszentmiklós