Fabrika automobila Rozega
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| Public | |
| Industry | Vehicle Manufacturing |
| Founded | June 7, 1943 in Rozega, Liaria, Poja |
| Founder | Zoran Šestić |
| Headquarters | Rozega, Liaria , |
Key people | Josip Katić (General Director) |
| Products | Buses, Cars, Chassises, Engines, Heavy Equipment, Trucks, Truck Trailers |
| Revenue |
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| Total equity |
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| Owner | Grupa Fabrika Automobila (41.89%) Private Investors (22.93%) Government of Poja (15.18%) Others (20%) |
Number of employees | 3,400 (2022) |
| Website | www.Fabrika-Rozega.kp |
Ð1.832 billionFabrika automobila Rozega (FAR) is the largest truck and heavy equipment manufacturer in Poja with its headquarters in the Liari city of Rozega, where it thus derives its name. When the company was founded in the 1940s, the Pojački trucking industry was nearly 100% reliant on foreign imports, mostly from Volsci. Over the years, the establishment and the success of FAR has enabled Poja to provide a significant amount of its trucking needs from domestic production. In addition, FAR is the main supplier of trucks to the Pojački military and is partly owned by the government of Poja.
History
FAR was founded by Zoran Šestić (1902 - 1980), a wealthy industrialist and descendent of Liari aristocracy. At the age of 19, Šestić inherited a large fortune when his father Josif died suddenly of a heart attack. Taking that fortune, Šestić invested in a partnership with an ironworks firm that was building a new smelting plant on the outskirts of Rugi. By the 1940s, the plant was the largest producer of heavy iron and steel to Pojački industry but they had a problem. Improvements in efficiencies and a decline in markets led the industry to have an excess of steel. Šestić, recognizing a gap in Pojački automotive manufacturing, sold his stake for a handsome profit and founded FAR in 1943.
At the time, the Pojački automotive industry was largely reliant on foreign imports for trucks, engines, and other heavy equipment. Leveraging his prior knowledge of the steel industry, he obtained excess production capacity at a discounted rate. FAR's large purchases of steel meant that production outputs wound not need to decline and profits could soar for both companies. In the 1950s, FAR became the sole supplier of trucks, busses, and vehicle chassis in Poja. The company had very early success with the production of the FAR Model 52, a 3-axle, saloon car that came in armored and unarmored versions. The Pojački government procured thousands of the Model 52 to provide for civilian and military needs. Many Model 52s remain in service with the government and the military as ceremonial vehicles and they are popular amongst private collectors.
In the 1960s, FAR began to product diesel engines and they expanded into the market for truck trailers and began to produce heavy, construction equipment such as front end loaders, cranes, and excavators. By the 1970s, they were also producing bulldozers.
FAR's biggest success came in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, however. In 1973, after 3 decades in existence, FAR began work on a modular vehicle chassis that could be used in 2-axles, 3-axle, and 4-axle utility trucks. The goal was to produce a common chassis for its next generation of vehicles. What resulted was the FAR 2000-series vehicles in 1975. FAR so numbered the series because they built the vehicle class to last until the year 2000, a marketing ploy designed to garner international attention. They succeeded and the FAR 2000-series of vehicles remains in use and it continues to be manufactured in the 2020s.
The FAR 2000-series was numbered in such a way that it followed a standard designation system. The first digit of the 3-digit series would indicate the number of axles. The second two digits would indicate the payload rating of the vehicle in terms of tonnes multiplied by ten. An additional digit was added for weight capacities under 1 tonne where it was needed to prevent rounding. Thus, the FAR 2330 is a 3-axle vehicle with a 3-tonne capacity. The FAR 23075 is a 3-axle vehicle with a 0.75 tonne capacity. The first vehicles produced were the FAR 23075, FAR 2315, and the FAR 2330. Later, the FAR 2360 was added along with the FAR 2490. The FAR 2240 would also be added for a smaller truck with significant capacity.
The FAR 2000-series proved itself to be robust, sturdy, and reliable. In 1978, the Pojački National Army placed a bid on the vehicle series and in 1980, officially began replacing all of their vehicles with the FAR 2000-series, which proved to be a double-edged sword for FAR. Unable to fulfill the army's demand, FAR began to source steel from many differing sources and by 1989, quality control officers in the company began to flag concerns over the metallurgy of two suppliers. In an effort to protect the contract, the QC officers were removed from their positions and threatened with legal action if they talked. However, the army had already noticed that some of its vehicles were beginning to experience stress fractures in the frames, though it was attributing them to poor loading techniques. When the fractures and cracks continued to appear in 1991, 2 years after the new techniques were published, the army conducted experimentation. What they found was that the vehicles could only hold up to 65% of their weight rating before cracking began to appear.
In August 1991, the army pushed back on FAR with the results of the investigative study. Despite efforts to keep the situation out of the newspapers, the story was leaked. This proved insightful to the army as it brought the issue to the attention of the QC officers who'd previously been fired. The officers contacted the army and were put under the protection of the government as informants. In December 1991, police raided the FAR headquarters and seized considerable documentation on the FAR 2000-series.
The outcome nearly sunk FAR as a company. Everyone associated with the firing of the QC officers was arrested and brought up on charges of corruption and malfeasance. The reputations of the QC officers were ultimately restored and the company structure of the FAR was gutted with firings and arrests for all those who could be proven to have a role. Court proceedings were nearly open and shut in favor of the government but the court did fault on the army on failing to do proper investigation on whether or not FAR could handle the request. The court stated that "though FAR acted negligently, they did so out of patriotic pride to supply the army with the vehicles it needed to defend itself."
As a result of the ruling, FAR was ordered to give up a stake to the government of Poja and be cooperative in oversight regulations. The army continued to procure the FAR 2000-series but quality control audits were done regularly to ensure compliance. FAR was able to recover from the scandal and it continues to produce vehicles and trucks for the Pojački military to this day.
Organization
- Fabrika automobila Rozega
- Fabrika Rozega Automobilski (Cars)
- Fabrika Rozega Kamion (Buses, Chassises, Trucks, Truck Trailers)
- Fabrika Rozega Motorni (Engines)
- Fabrika Rozega Tegljac (Heavy machinery)
Corporate Governance
Members of the Board of Directors
- Josip Katić, General Director
- Simon Dubinsky, Deputy Director
- Sejo Bijedić
- Dmitri Bogdanov
- Meša Dizdarević
- Živojin Dušan, representative of the government of Poja
- Jadranka Hasković
- Werner Horvat
- Jelena Putnik
- Rushka Radonić
- Predrag Vekić