VAZ meaning in General ?

AvtoVAZ (Russian: АвтоВАЗ, IPA: [ɐftoˈvas]) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company founded in 1966. It was formerly named as VAZ (Russian: ВАЗ), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (Russian: Во́лжский автомоби́льный заво́д, romanized: Vólzhskiy avtomobíl'nyy zavód). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of Lada vehicles. In the Soviet Union, its products used various names, including Zhiguli, Oka, and Sputnik, which were phased out in the 1990s and replaced by Lada for the Russian market. From December 2019 to August 2020, AvtoVAZ sold Niva cars with Chevrolet branding.

The company is a subsidiary of the Alliance Rostec Auto company, in which French Groupe Renault holds a controlling 67.61% stake. AvtoVAZ is a consolidated subsidiary of Groupe Renault. AvtoVAZ produces and also exports over 400,000 cars a year, under its Lada brand, as well as cars of Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance brands Renault, Nissan, and Datsun. From January 2021 onwards, AvtoVAZ is part of Renault's Lada and Dacia business unit structure.

The AvtoVAZ factory is the largest car manufacturer in Russia and Eastern Europe.