The company was founded by Pavel Beneš, Miroslav Hajn, Jaroslav František Koch and Václav Malý in 1919 as the “Avia Aksiova Spolecnost Pro prumysi letecký (Avia Aksiova Aircraft Industry Company)[1] and became part of Škoda Works a.s. in 1928.

During the 1930s, the factory became the biggest aircraft producer in Czechoslovakia and moved to Letňany near Prague, where production continues to this day.

Soon after the war, the manufacture of fuel injection pumps, jets and roller bearings for freight vehicle transport was implemented in Avia.

In the post-war reorganization of Czechoslovak industry it was later decided that Avia would be fully transformed into making new commercial vehicles.

It fully utilised its construction designed for extraordinarily heavy use in the army, on site, in forest as well as in any other operation demanding a high performance under the heaviest conditions.

In 1965 structural changes of demand concerning a small tonnage lorry appeared in both national and international markets.

The Avia enterprise considered two ways ahead: developing its own new models and/or buying licences to build trucks designed by another company.

The outcome was that Avia purchased licences from the French Renault-Saviem company to build two types of truck.

New buildings housing advanced equipment were built, and Avia became among the largest Czechoslovak vehicle manufacturers.

In 1986, the Avia National Concern, including affiliated operations in Brno, Ivančice and Žilina was incorporated in a so-called "Industry Economical Unit" together with Praga, BSS, Metaz and Kutná Hora enterprises.

The major output of the Praga Concern Enterprise included truck and bus gear units and a number of other parts for the automotive field.

In the first line, it was Renault, the French car maker, with which Avia already had good long-term experience; followed by the German Mercedes-Benz company.

In the same year, the company became the exclusive importer and distributor of Daewoo vehicles for the Czech Republic.In 1997 the Avia A Series was modernized for the last time.

Generally, 250,000 Avia A Series vehicles, which can be seen in high numbers on our roads even today, left the assembly line of the Letňany car factory in the period between launching the production in 1968 up to its termination, which took place on 13 November 2000.

Daewoo Avia's new Korean management team set a demanding goal consisting of development and manufacturing of a completely new medium duty truck, which would cover the 6 to 9 tonnes gvw (gross vehicle weight) class and would be fully competitive in Western European markets and further afield in terms of design and operating costs.

Much of the ongoing development work was funded by selling local real estate owned by the company including the company-owned workers' flats in Letňany.

Along with its new cab, Daewoo Avia also launched its new D432-100 engine which met EEC R49-03 (Euro 3) without electronic control or EGR technology.

The Cummins engine, with its flat torque curve, demonstrated good fuel consumption and better performance on long journeys.

A Czech-based investment company Odien started negotiations to buy the Daewoo Steyr B.V. 50.2% share holding—a process completed in early 2005.

After discussions with several overseas manufacturers, Odien sold the truck business unit to Ashok Leyland of India in October 2006.

In 2006 the new 160 and 185 hp Cummins powered Euro IV models and the D120 were launched, the latter with gcw (gross combination weight) of up to 22000 kg for drawbar operation.

In 2007 collaboration with the Tanfield Group of the UK saw the introduction of an "electric Avia", with AALM providing chassis cabs less engines, gearboxes and other diesel truck components to Tanfield subsidiary Smith Electric Vehicles for the Smith Newton all-electric truck.

This was a successful collaboration with the shipment of engineless trucks forming a large proportion of Avia's sales.

Ashok Leyland helped Avia not only overcome the crisis in 2008–09, but in joint projects opened up new markets.

As a result, Avia has developed from a local truck manufacturer for Central and Eastern Europe to being a global brand.

Smith's electric trucks were sold in the UK and USA, where the government was then promoting the purchase of electrified vehicles by financial subsidies.

The medium trucks meet emission class Euro VI and include four-cylinder motors Cummins ISB 4.5l (150, 180 and 210 hp).

It therefore substituted the Junkers Jumo 211 engine and propeller designed for the Heinkel He 111 bomber and redesignated the aircraft as the Avia S-199.

The first S-92 was built at the Letňany Research Institute in 1945 with the airframe from Avia and the twin engines from the repair works in Malešice.

By the time Yugoslavia showed interest in buying the S-92, Avia was looking at closing down the production line to make way for newer upgraded aircraft.