Construction of the plant began in 1986 under the name KiAZ (Kirovabad Automobile Factory). The production capacity of the plant was designed to produce 30,000 cars. Construction of the plant for the project was supposed to end in 1989, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the construction and operation of the plant was postponed indefinitely. After Azerbaijan gained the independence, in 1993, Turkish company
Otokar, showed the interest in factory but due to political change production never implemented. In December 2004, it opened as the Gyandzha Auto Plant and the first car that came out of their production line was presented that year. In the year 2008 the factory produced about 600 vehicles, both cars and tractors, also later bus assembly was started. This plant serves as one example of the Azeri government's efforts to show progress in diversifying its economy, which has traditionally always been largely dependent on the production oil and gas, and has been able to serve other purposes, in particular, to give a factual basis for political propaganda of the government. It also downplays some of the state's main weaknesses, such as having been formerly totally dependent on the import of transport equipment from other nations. Despite the efforts made at this plant to increase production by Russian interests, the overall production is still very low, being measured in just hundreds of units annuals, where the facility's original concept would accommodate increased production, thousands of units annually. Recently,
Moldovan and
Russian investors have visited the plant in order to see the progress made and the production of their products in this factory, as well as Belarusian investors. The opening of the Azerbaijan-Belarus tractor producing plant took place on April 15, 2019, in Turkey, a source in the Ganja Automobile Plant Production Association told AzVision.az. ==Products ==