Balkania (trade name)
Encyclopedia
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
industrial and trading company based in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
that produced 4x4 jeep-type vehicles and 4x4 trucks. Since 1945, K. Zacharopoulos had been involved in vehicle repair and rebuilding. The Balkania company was founded in 1954 and since 1972 it imported Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n vehicles. In 1975 it designed and introduced its own Autotractor model, a 4x4 multi-purpose truck with a Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
3200 cc Diesel engine, metal cabin and a payload of 1500 kg (3,307 lb). In 1979 the model was redesigned, with a modern synthetic (glass-fiber reinforced composite) cabin. It was produced, as some similar Greek vehicles, until a change of a favorable categorization for agricultural vehicles in 1984 limited its prospects (see also AutoDiana
AutoDiana
AutoDiana was a Greek truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki, in operation between 1975 and 1984. Its main product was the 'Unicar' model , a rather heavy-looking 4x4 multi-purpose truck. This robust vehicle had a payload of 1500 kg and used Mercedes-Benz Diesel engine and Dodge axles...
, Petropoulos
Petropoulos
Petropoulos is today a major importer and distributor of vehicles and heavy machinery, having been, at the same time, one of the "historic" Greek engine and vehicle manufacturers....
). The vehicle was modestly successful, as it exhibited certain quality problems.
In 1975 Balkania also introduced a lighter Autotractor series of Jeep-type 4x4 vehicles. These were not of own design, but were actually modified Indian Mahindra
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Mohammed...
models (in turn based on older U.S. Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
models), using a Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
2100 cc 62 hp Diesel engine. The more modern-looking Autotractor KZ (from the founder's name initials) was available with the aforementioned engine, as well as a Peugeot 2500 cc 103 hp gasoline engine. In 1984 the company was partially acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Mohammed...
, the factory was modernized and its name was changed to Mahindra Hellas A.E.. The model name Autotractor was dropped and all vehicles produced were Mahindra models sold with that name, although in somewhat modified versions. Most of this production was exported. The company went out of business in 1995.