MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCTION IN POLAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700100405-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 24, 2011
• Sequence Number: 405
• Publication Date: February 3, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700100405-9
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
SECURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY Poland
SUBJECT Economic; Transportation -Motor vehicles
HOW
PUBLISHED Biveekl} nevapaper
!"lHEP,E
PUBLISHED Berlin
DATE
PUBLISHED 30 Aug 1952
LANGUAGE German
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
STATE
ARMY
In 1938, Poland had only 34,000 motor vehicles sod vas almost in last place
behind all othe't coup+.ries in this respect. The situation vas typified by the
very obviously improrer relation between the number of passenger cars auu the
number of trucks. Fir *:very 100 passenger cars there were only 22.5 trucks.
Since the war the situation hoc improved to the extent that Poland had as early
as 1948 a total of 53,000 motor vehicles. The percente3e of trucks, in relation
to the entire number of vehicles, had tripled.
Although Poland had no automobile industry of its own before the war, the
first successful s*.eps toward the crea~ica of its own actor vehicle industry
ware tsken during the postwar years in the course of the 1947-1949 Three-Year
Plan. As early ae 1947, the Ursus Tractor Factory delivered the first farm trac-
tox?s. In 1948, the first experimental series of Star 20 3-1/2 ton trucks left
the Starschovir_e Automotive Plant. During the current Six-Year Plan (1950-1955)
the automotive industry is undergoing considerable expansion. With the ac*.iva-
tion of two new automobile plants in Warsaw-Zerea (passenger cars) and Lublin
(trucks), in *lovember 1951, an important part of the plan has already been real-
ized, At present, the Polish automotive inaustry is producing at a rate of 10,000
vehicles per yeaz. The complete equipment for another tractor factory will bn
furnished by the LGSR under the terms of an agreement for the delivery of in-
vestment goods. This will make possib?e the production of caterpilltsr tractor.; ar]
will permit :wising the total tractor production 4 1/2 times to .11,000 uvits par
year by 1955. By that time, t.`.e automotive factoriaa 1,. 'r:ar:.aw, 1..:11^, a__
Starschovice x111 be producing 37,000 motor vehicles annually, of vhi.cb 25,000
vi].1 be trucks. This will place Poland in the group of nations with 3eveloped
automotive industrles, since tha annual truck production will then (in 1955)
correspond approximately to that of France in 1938, while the output of passen-
ger cars vi?1 exceed Italian production in 1946. Therroduction of internal
combustion engines for industry and agriculture will iikevise be expanded con-
aide~ably during the same period.
NAW
AIR
RESTRICTED
DISTRIBUTION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700100405-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700100405-9
Present production includes a variety of vehicles, with emphasis on utility
vehicles. It also includes several types of stationary engines for industry,
agriculture, and building construction, motor pumps of various types including
sludge pumps, spare parts for foreign makes and older types of engines, etc.
Passenger cars are re,~+resented by the 20-liter, 50 horsepower, M-20 Wars-
zawa which ie built in Warsax under Soviet license. The factory in Starachowice
produces several types ~f utility vehicles, all variants of the Star-20 truck.
The latter serves ae basis for the construction of the long-distance Star-50
bus for.32 persons, with a useful load of 3 tons. Other derivative types are a
fire engine with a separate motor pump or with sa auto-pump (the truck engine
being used to operate the pump) and a tank truck with 2,500 liters capacity.
Since 1951, the same factory has also teen producing several types oY road
tractors (for hauling trailers), gondola-type trucks, and dumping devices. Among
the nex pro~ecta which will go into production before the close of this year
are a 7 to 8-ton truck, a one-ton delivery car, a engine with supercharger for
+.he Star-20 truck, a 350 cubic centimeter mutorcycle, a motorcycle with fire
extinguishing equipment on n sidecar, and an auxiliary engine for bicycles. l,~tor-
cycles of 125 cubic centimeters cylinder capacity have already been produced
since last year.
The Lublin-51 truck is built under Soviet license in the Lublin Truck Fac-
tory. This is a speedy and light 2 1~2-tun truck copied from a vehicle produced
by the Molotov Automobile Plant in Oorki, When the useful load is decreased
to 2 tone, this truck may also be used on unimproved country roads sad trails,
The 6-cylinder engine develops 70 horsepower and the maximum speed is 70 kilo-
meters per hour. Its construction and meaner of operation resemble those of
the M-20 Warszawa passenger car engines, except trot the Lstter has only four
cylinders.
Compared with the previou~t year, the total average production of the moor
industry is 1952 will reflect an increase of 71 percent, which means ea in-
crease of 380 percent as compared with 1949? The increase in truck production
will be particular]y large. For the Star-20, production will be 30 times that
of 1949 anR t}ree times that of 1951. For the Lublin-51 there are no comparable
figures, since its production vas not inaugurated until the close of 195:x, This
notable increase in production vas achieved by the application of extensive
measures to increase efficiency, As compared wits 1949, the labor input pe.r
unit hoe been reduced 20 percent for trucks, 26 percent far engines, and 39
percent Por tractors.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700100405-9