GAZ stands for Gorkovski Avtomobilnji Zavod and began in 1932 by building Fords under licence in the city of Gorki.  In 1946 the M-20 Pobieda (meaning Victory) was introduced, followed by the M-21 Volga and the Chaika and by 1981, 10 million vehicles had been produced.  In later years, GAZ has had agreements with other companies to manufacture cars, including Volkswagen and General Motors.