Editing Lviv Bus Factory (section)

==History==
The Lviv Bus Plant LAZ was built in 1945 to produce [[ZiL|ZIS]] buses for the USSR. The LAZ 695 bus was designed and approved by the [[Moscow]] Ministry of Transport. Production began in 1956 and continued until 2006.

During the 1970s many new models were developed such as the LAZ 699, and 697 both of which are coach buses. In 1967, LAZ was awarded the best bus producer in Europe at the [[Brussels Auto Show]]. LAZ is known to be the first company to create the low floor bus, which came in 1963, was called the LAZ 360, and was designed by Nami USSR.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, LAZ suffered economic issues due to the loss of funding. Production was halted due to low demand. After Ukraine's economy started to stabilize, LAZ began producing their newer model, the LAZ 52523.

In 2001, LAZ was sold to Russian business tycoon [[Igor Churkin]], and a new business model was implemented. The whole line of production was re-engineered to produce new buses for a lower cost. LAZ used a system called a "flexible assembly line", which gave the ability to produce a variety of different models simultaneously. Additionally, LAZ buses were hand assembled.

Some of their most widely known products included the LAZ-695 city bus and its stretch, tourist-oriented version, the LAZ-699. ElectroLAZ, the LAZ [[trolleybus]], was used by over 25 cities around the world.

LAZ provided transportation for the [[UEFA Euro 2012]] championship held in [[Ukraine]] and [[Poland]] in 2012. The Ukrainian government signed a contract to purchase 2500 new "CityLAZ", with a possibility of 800 more. After the championship, LAZ buses were used as regular city transportation in the cities hosting EURO 2012.  In 2012, three new models were introduced: The LAZ 695 Soyuz, the LAZ 4207 DM, and the LAZ A183 CNG.