Jelcz

Jelcz
Company type	Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością
Industry	automotive, defence
Founded	28 March 1952 (2014 Jelcz Sp. z o.o.)
Headquarters	Jelcz-Laskowice, Poland
Key people	Władysław Czubak CEO
Products	trucks
Number of employees	600 (2021)
Website	www.jelcz.com.pl

Jelcz (pronounced like Yelch after the town of the same name) is a Polish manufacturer of trucks, buses, trolleybuses and different types of dedicated chassis.

Since 2013 the company is part of the Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa and operates with a focus on manufacturing off-road military vehicles.

History

In 1952, a decision was made to use a former German armaments factory in Jelcz-Laskowice near Wrocław for production in western Poland. A company called Zakłady Budowy Nadwozi Samochodowych (Automobile Chassis Works) was established. After the reconstruction of the factory, the company started to develop and build bus bodies for Lublin and Star trucks. The company built buses such as the Jelcz PR110D.

In 1974, the Polish expedition to Lhotse used a Jelcz 316 car to travel from Warsaw to Nepal. In 1975, the expedition of the Wrocław Mountain Club to Broad Peak Central, in Pakistan, used a Jelcz 315-M car to travel from Wrocław to Islamabad, driving up to 9,000 km between 2–21 May.

Since 2004, Jelcz Sp. z o.o. has concentrated on producing military trucks, mainly for Polish Armed Forces (for example, the WR-40 Langusta MLRS).

Since 2012, the sole owner of Jelcz sp. z o.o. is Huta Stalowa Wola, which is a part of the Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa.

Homar-K prototype on Jelcz P882.57 chassis

In 2023, the Jelcz P882.57 8x8 chassis was selected as the base chassis in the Polish Homar-K multiple launch rocket system program. The vehicle has been integrated with the TOPAZ combat management system, the Fonet digital vehicle communication platform, the Radmor radio communication system and the K239 rocket launcher module.^[1]

At the MSPO military fair in 2023, the company presented for the first time the advanced third-generation P883.57 chassis, which is dedicated for the future standard chassis in the Polish Armed Forces.^[2]