Automobile model numbering system in USSR and Russia

A standardized automobile model numbering system has been used in the Soviet Union and Russia. Using the modern version of the system it is possible to determine a vehicle's type and engine capacity. The modern version of the numbering system was introduced in the mid-1970s. A similar system is used in the People's Republic of China.

The old numbering system was used from 1945 until the new system replaced it later (one model numbered by old system, LAZ-695N bus, is still produced [1]).

According to the old system, the vehicle model consisted of the manufacturer's name and up to three digits. Each manufacturer received a range of numbers it used to pick model numbers. The ranges were assigned as follows:

The modern numbering system, documented as отраслевая нормаль (industry standard) ОН 025270-66, was first introduced in 1966 (but did not become effective immediately, so many vehicles that entered production before mid-1970s still used the old numbering system; the first vehicle to use it was the all-new VAZ-2101, other plants switched to the new system later: Moskvitch - in 1976, Moskvitch 2140; GAZ - in 1982, GAZ-3102; and so on) and is still used in Russia, although not strictly adhered to by the manufacturers.

According to this system the full model designation is a combination of the manufacturer's name (e.g. VAZ) and at least 4-digit number (e.g. 2108):

in which:

For passenger cars the engine displacament and dry weight are used to determine the class, also sub-classes (Groups) are defined:

For trucks, full weight is used:

For buses length is used:

The fifth digit is optional, and is used to specify different versions or modifications of the same model.

The sixth digit was sometimes used to specify export variants.

Also several digits separated by dash were sometimes used to specify option packages.

The system had multiple drawbacks. For example, there were vehicles that could not be correctly indexed because their engine capacity and dry weight fell into different categories. This problem often appeared when extra low- or large-displacement modifications were created. Usually these were indexed according to the index of the base model. For example 5.5-liter V8-powered Volga GAZ-31011 was indexed so because its base model was 2,99-liter GAZ-3101; instead it should have been indexed with "4" first digit according to its engine displacement. Moskvitch-214145 Svyatogor (based on Moskvitch 2141) was powered by 2.0-liter Renault F3R engine, so it fell into "Middle" class according to its engine desplacement (more than 1800 cc), but into "Small" class according to its dry weight.

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