History of "KAMAZ-master" team – it is a history of entrance and development of KAMAZ business as well as promoting the global brand of automobile plant on international automotive markets by means of unique instrument - a sports team . The team is formed to pave the international track for products of KAMAZ brand, showing all its advantages and opportunities on routes of supermarathons, and first of all, in a World Cup on off-road rally raids. This fascinating and at the same time unique in complexity and difficulties kind of motor sport knows no boundaries, no distance. Millions of fans follows this event, and not only great sportsmen recognized in worldwide automobile corporations are involved in it, but also businessmen and senior statesmen of many countries, including President of Russia V. Putin who is personally familiar with the team. KAMAZ cars are delivered to more than 60 foreign countries. Annually Kama Automobile plant is recognized as the best exporter of the Russian automotive industry.
History of "KAMAZ-master" team is a history of all-wheel drive vehicles KAMAZ, specially created for all kinds of roads and conditions. Routes of supermarathons became the most unique polygon for testing of the latest engineering and designer development in extremal conditions.
Many of them formed the basis for the modernization of existing and creation of new perspective models of SUV - both for the Russian Ministry of Defence, Emergencies Ministry, and for civilian branches of the Russian economy. Moreover, the team accumulated experience allows Kama Automobile Plant effectively solve the most difficult production problems.
About the help to the team – one of the examples. According to the aim before Dakar-2007 the Russian racers had to solve the most difficult problem – to refuse the central location of the engine on sports trucks and install it over a front axle. KAMAZ workers managed to make all engineering changes and on that single untested truck to win the race. Then Dakar organizers demanded to carry out homologation of 15 KAMAZ trucks- analogues of sports truck. Such number of cars according to the new regulations had to confirm a serial family of racing trucks. Journalists called this tactic of pressure upon the Russian racers as "technical terror".
However, due to intense work on the preparation of design and technical documentation and parallel preparation of production and manufacturing of the necessary components, 15 analogues of KAMAZ sports truck were manufactured and homologated in time. Working for the team Kama Automobile plant gained experience of accelerated trucks development.
The crews of trucks bearing the emblem of the world’s most famous automotive manufacturers - Mercedes, Man, Renault, Mitsubishi, Tatra, Iveco, Daf are raring to the victorious pedestal of "Dakar"... Only the Czech racing drivers managed to come a little bit nearer to results of the KAMAZ sportsmen. Whether it is necessary to say about the prestige which is born by a team to a brand?
We can ask about the benefits of cooperation the Yaroslavl motor manufacturers, specialists of the German company "ZF" - gearbox manufacturers, manufacturers of fuel, oil and lubricants, tires, brake systems, electronics, etc. There is only one core - technical cooperation with the team allows everyone to create world-class products, to maintain its image, increase market share. Names and trademarks are associated with sports team's achievements. Moreover, they are present in the form of logos, emblems on the sides of sports trucks, accessories and clothes of racers. Racing truck - is not only a testing laboratory, but also advertising display on wheels. By what means and how you can find a similar method of distribution of advertising - on several continents and dozens of countries? And if we add to this the numerous briefings, press conferences, meetings during the preparation for a competition, during their carrying out and after finish with numerous media, representatives of the authorities and businessmen, where the question is always about the partners and the team? All this, together with advertising leaflets, photo albums, videos and a variety of such products is powerful help in an arsenal of advertising means of the team, its sponsors and partners. This mutually beneficial relationship allows to combine the experience and the opportunity of the team with a desire of partners to implement collaborative and independent projects. Many of them, in practice, provide a unique opportunity for highly profitable investment.
"KAMAZ-master" team is a flesh from flesh of our automobile plant, it is imbued with its spirit, - the director general of "KAMAZ" Sergey Kogogin often says. - It should be valued. "KAMAZ" stood, stands and will stand behind the team".
When somebody says that all "KAMAZ" stands behind the "KAMAZ-master" team – it is an axiom. The automobile plant does everything possible to provide technical readiness of the team. Most of its enterprises are anyway involved in a technological chain on execution of orders of special automotive equipment department. Moreover, this work, and production of each part always has a know-how print, requires manufacturers of special creativity.
With a special force the work of all "KAMAZ" enterprises together with a team was manifested when creating the racing truck KAMAZ-4911. This situation by the enthusiasm, creative spirit could only be compared with the first manufacturer of the KAMAZ truck. Implementation of such difficult project demanded similar devotion of hundreds workers, experts and managers, starting from the director general of automobile plant, manager of department to the ordinary fitter.
Working over this unique project, "KAMAZ" gained experience of the accelerated trucks development method. The whole cycle – beginning from the design on the basis of basic model and before entry in the serial production, lasting usually some years, - took about half a year.
Kama Automobile Plant represented by its young employees-enthusiasts from the very beginning of its activity cultivated a variety of sports, and first of all the motorsport: buggy, hippodrome races on cars, cross-country races, closed-circuit races on trucks within the European championship. Those years, in a middle of the 80th, one of the founders of the team Semen Yakubov and his partner in races Firdaus Kabirov had an idea to test themselves in a new sport – auto marathon "Paris - Dakar". So, 23 years ago, in 1990, the team for the first time, on serial trucks took part in the legendary auto marathon.
By the mid-90s Kama Automobile Plant began to enter into the market. This circumstance highlighted the importance of the participation of the team in international races, and especially in the transcontinental super marathon "Paris -Dakar", sports successes of "KAMAZ -Master" team and its role in the business of the plant. Then the concept was born: using a unique marketing instrument - a sports team - in the shortest periods to provide image and the international recognition of a brand of JSC KAMAZ, which could contribute to the promotion of its products and services to foreign markets, strengthening the status of the largest manufacturer of competitive trucks.
This objective could be achieved only by realization of two tasks: creation of racing vehicles with the brand "KAMAZ", not inferior to the technical and operational quality of the best world analogues and convincing victories in the most difficult and prestigious international competitions.
After triumphal victories of the "KAMAZ-master" team the trademark of JSC KAMAZ received the world popularity and recognition, is surely positioned as a brand of the enterprise producing competitive products which meets the requirements of the modern consumer. Team itself as a market product, has today its own promoted brand attractive for business, a brand of the highest standard which has today no equal in the international rallies in a trucks category. It is very essential value added to the company brand. It is the only such value in the Russian automobile industry. Such a reputation created with participation of the "KAMAZ-master" team, has undoubted impact on a situation of the KAMAZ business.
The sporting, public, and business interest to the team increased a lot. Today in business relationship with the team dozens of domestic and foreign manufacturers of automotive components, accessories and consumables are involved. Dozens of business partners of the team hold it an honor to place logos of their companies on sides of racing trucks, associating them with victories of the KAMAZ racers. Russian and international motor shows organizers hold it as an honor to have KAMAZ racing trucks among the most attractive exhibits. Many business contacts of the team turn into perspective projects for all automobile plant.
One of the main reasons of phenomenal success of the team - support of the plant which had hard times, but which never disowned from the sports division. The director general of "KAMAZ" Sergey Kogogin follows each race and surely personally congratulates the team; he considers it as one of the KAMAZ priorities, with success. He created a good tradition to meet and to honor the team at the finish of the world’s most famous rally raid.
This is very beautiful and impressive show: close-knit fans dressed in team colors branded shirts, near a podium of "Dakar" glorifies the favorite sportsmen, streaming flags of Russia and Tatarstan. The sincere joy and intense vitality coming from fans, according to racers, allow them to feel fully the sweet taste of a victory. Sergey Kogogin in the very first days of his tenure, having assumed many problems of sports team, he said a simple, but important phrase: "The winner is that who has the best equipment and the best racers". Then day after day, month after month, consistently and purposefully created all necessary conditions for normal and effective activity of "KAMAZ-master" team.
