Bogdan group

Bogdan Corporation, or Bohdan Corporation (Ukrainian: Корпорація «Богдан» Korporatsiya Bohdan) - a part of the concern Ukrprominvest (ukr. Група «Укрпромінвест») - is a leading Ukrainian automobile-manufacturing group, including several car- and bus-makers of the country. Its most popular model is the Bogdan Isuzu-powered light bus made in Cherkasy.

History

Bogdan Corporation was created in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, by the mergers of some former Soviet enterprises to implement big investment projects dedicated to creating strong and powerful manufacturing of different-type vehicles in Ukraine. Initially, the company was a distributor of various Russian-based vehicles, later selling vehicles by Korean manufacturer, Kia Motors. In 1998, the company obtained the Cherkasy automobile repair factory that was specializing in repairing buses of the Russian-based Pavlovo Bus Factory and GAZelle. In 1999, the factory was transformed into the "Cherkasy Autobus" that began manufacturing its own buses, Bogdan. That same year, the company signed another contract with Hyundai for distribution of their vehicles. In 2000, the company bought the bankrupted Soviet LuAZ based in Lutsk (Volyn Oblast), and during the same period, started to produce its own cars based on the Russian AvtoVAZ. In 2003, the company's began exporting the buses. In 2004, the company signed a general agreement with Isuzu to use the Isuzu brand on the company's exported buses. In 2005, the company Bogdan Motors became a corporation.