Fabrika automobila Priboj


Korporacija Fabrika automobila Priboj is a Serbian automotive manufacturer of military vehicles.
Initially producing licensed copies of Saurer trucks, it produced Mercedes-Benz NG trucks under license. FAP is now majority owned by the Government of Serbia and it is part of "Defense Industry of Serbia". As of 2024, it has 138 employees and an annual revenue of 12.6 million euros.
WWW Official Site

History

1952–1970s: Early years

Founded in 1952 by decree of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1953, the first trucks were produced based on licence from Saurer. Models were 4G and 6G. In 1959, factory was extended and capacity growth on 3,600 vehicles per year. In 1961 vehicles and engines manufacturers cluster "ITV" was formed with FAP as member. The first domestically designed FAP vehicles where FAP 10B and FAP 15B introduced in serial production by 1965. The FAP 18B was made with a Leyland engine licence built by FAMOS. In 1970 a production, technical and financial cooperation contract was signed with Daimler-Benz. The first product from FAP based on contract with Daimler-Benz was LP1113, and it was followed by MB 1213 and O 302.

1970s–1990s: Export success and international expedition

On 15 July 1970 FAP started production and financial cooperation, with other Yugoslavian enterprises: "FAMOS", "Autokaroserija", "11 oktomvri". On international plan, FAP achieved export on African market: Egypt, Tanzania, Sudan, Tunis, Libya, and Nigeria.
By 1975 new manufacturing plant with 50,000 square meters was built and 150 new machines installed. New projected capacity was 10,000 vehicles per year. Licence contract with Mercedes-Benz was extended in 1976. for production of vehicle from 12 to 26 tonnes weight; many new vehicles are produced like FAP 1616, 1620, 1626, 1921, 1926, 2226, and 2626. In collaboration with Military Technical Institute Belgrade in 1978 it developed special military vehicles FAP 2026/6×6 and produced it in following years in different variants to satisfy various roles in military. FAP was producing many different chassis that were used in factories in Zagreb, Skopje, Belgrade as bases for producing buses and other vehicles. In 1984, FAP was again extending factory in newly built industrial zone "Manovica". By their own design center, trailers where developed from 20 to 70 tonnes gross weight. In 1986, licence with Mercedes-Benz was extended for producing 12-26 tonnes gross vehicle weight. By 1991 FAP had 16,468 square meters of factory space and trucks and other products were exported worldwide.

1990s–2010s: Limited operation

Endurance of the FAP trucks was tested in the Gobi Desert during 1995–96 expedition Putevi sveta with FAP 2026 GC/B 6x6 which was produced in cooperation with Ikarbus. Aim of this expedition was to cross road Priboj-Belgrade-Moscow-Ulan Bator-Beijing-Dalyan-Belgrade-Priboj. This aim was accomplished for only 139 days in the winter season.
During severe economic crisis in Serbia in the 1990s, FAP lost many markets and significantly deteriorated in terms of research and production. During the 2000s, it offered many variants of vehicles based on old Mercedes tooling, with different engines manufactured by Mercedes-Benz, Cummins, MAN, and Famos, FAP was producing vehicles for domestic use and exports. Exported vehicles could be found in many countries worldwide like Egypt, Nigeria, Libya, Sudan, Syria, etc.
Production lines consisted of military and civilian vehicles. FAP also built chassis, trailers aggregates. All produced vehicles had EURO 3, EURO 4 or EURO 5 engines type.

2014–present: Military-oriented production

In 2014, Finnish truck maker Sisu Auto had put offer to buy FAP, in cooperation with the Government of Serbia. However, the negotiations were shut down due to disagreements in strategy between the parties. Over the years, the Government of Serbia has worked to revitalize company; in the process more than 1,000 employees have left the company with severance payments.
Since 2014, FAP operates as manufacturer and overhaul provider for the Serbian Army. In 2017, FAP delivered ten new trucks to the Serbian Army, as part of 2.5 million euros deal with the Serbian Ministry of Defence. In 2022, FAP signed a new contract with the Ministry of Defence, worth 3.1 million euros.
In 2023, on its 70th anniversary, FAP presented a prototype for a facelifted civilian truck, called the FAP 2240. It features a new grille, front bumper and headlights, as well as a completely overhauled interior taken from the Chinese BeiBen NG80. The truck is equipped with a 6 cylinder Mercedes-Benz OM457 engine, making 400 HP, and a 16-speed ZF Ecosplit manual transmission. The fuel tank holds up to 400 litres and the top speed of the truck is said to be 95 km/h. The FAP 2240 has yet to reach series production.

Production lines

Military production line

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Civilian production program

Lorries/trucks

Tractors

Dump trucks

Buses

FAP produces variety of buses: City buses, Suburb buses, Intercity buses, Minibuses.

Chassis

There is also a chassis in production. They are used as bases for different kind of vehicles and special upgrades.

Vehicles history production lines

List of vehicles which are no longer in production.

Military

List of produced military vehicles in past:

Civilian

List of produced civilian vehicles in past: