Exhibition of Volkswagen cars made in Vogosca

SARAJevo, (Patria) - On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Sarajevo Automobile Factory (TAS), the Auto 4x4 Club will organize the Volkswagen Show and TAS expo events during June this year, with the aim of presenting to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina all models of vehicles produced in Vogosca.

The first car in private ownership was brought to Sarajevo in 1903 by mechanic Ludvik Ljudvit Wolf, who came from the Czech Republic, and the authorities hired him to build the narrow-gauge railway Sarajevo – Ustipraca – Visegrad. Just before World War I, there were approximately 80 cars in Sarajevo, according to estimates.

More than half a century after the arrival of the first car in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their production began here. Before that, the Pretis company in Vogosca, based on an agreement from 1963 with the German factory NSU, produced Prima and Maxi scooters and motorcycles.

They were made under license from the German factory, but some parts of domestic production were also used. In Vogosca, from 1965, cars from the NSU factory program were also assembled. These were the NSU Prinz 1000 models, as well as the 110 and 1200 models. An average of five thousand Prinz cars were assembled annually. However, they did not have the status of a domestic car, as not enough parts of domestic production were used.

The factories Pretis, Pobjeda from Gorazde, Igman from Konjic, and Slavko Rodic from Bugojno jointly formed the Metal Industry UNIS company in 1968. Pretis's production program was then based on defense industry products, and TAS, formed in 1969 based on an agreement that UNIS concluded with the German concern Volkswagen AG, was involved in car production. In Vogosca, from 1972, assembly of various models of the popular Volkswagen Beetle was carried out. Thus began the long tradition of Volkswagen cars in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Beetle was succeeded in 1976 by the VW Golf 1, and from 1985, the Volkswagen Golf 2. The average production in Vogosca was around 25,000 Golf cars annually.

After the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the company Volkswagen Sarajevo launched SKD assembly of some Skoda models (Felicia, Fabia, Octavia, Superb), Volkswagen (Polo, Golf, Passat), and Audi (A3, A4, A6, A8, Q7) at the beginning of 1998, which lasted until the end of 2008.

As part of the celebration of 50 years of car production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two events will be organized at the following times:

- June 16 – Volkswagen Auto Show (Volkswagen Sarajevo, Vogosca)
- June 22/23 – TAS Expo (Cultural Sports Center, Vogosca)

On Saturday, June 22, 2019, the exhibition opening ceremony is planned for 12:00 PM, followed by a vehicle parade. The exhibition will be open to visitors until Sunday, June 23, 2019, at 5:00 PM.