OREANDA-NEWS. August 16, 2012. KAMAZ developed a project of the Specialized Engineering Center "Modeling of Structures and Technologies of the Automotive Industry" which will be located in Kazan, with a testing ground in Naberezhnye Chelny. It was discussed at a recent meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the residents of Tatarstan, reported the press-centre of KAMAZ.

The Russian auto industry is currently lagging in technology, and Russia`s accession to the WTO may even worsen the situation. These problems can be solved with the help of the Engineering Center "Modeling of Structures and Technologies of the Automotive Industry" which will be the basis of a modern automobile industry complex. The center will be located in Tatarstan because of a favorable geographical location, an intellectual and innovative base in the Republic of Tatarstan and a growing use of Hi-Tech components in the automotive industry.

The city of Naberezhnye Chelny, where all main enterprises of OJSC KAMAZ are located, has all necessary prerequisites for a testing ground: proximity of major automotive enterprises, necessary facilities, and experienced test drivers. The testing ground will be used for laboratory and road tests and examination of motor vehicles (including equipment produced for government agencies) in order to pass on to a full-fledged virtual design which will use advanced supercomputing technologies. It will be possible to demonstrate vehicles for partners and customers there.

According to preliminary data, the total area of the Engineering Center will be more than 9.5 thousand square meters, including 6.5 thousand square meters for laboratory research and 3 thousand square meters for offices. It is planned to employ at least 450 people.

With the Engineering Center, KAMAZ will move to a brand-new level of development, production, sale and service of motor vehicles.