The problem with those socialist countries is that they failed to evolve. They'll still be making the same car in '85 which was succesfully launched in '65, and nobody would want it any more.

This is perhaps because of lack of competition (there wasn't much common market even between different Warsaw Pact countries) and overspending on military preparing for wars which never came.

http://jalopnik.com/these-were-your-car-options-in-hungary-u... this article makes the point that there was some competition. Lucky for Hungary. In USSR there were not.