AvtoVAZ Postpones Launch of Lada 4x4 Successor

VIENNA – Russian auto maker AvtoVAZ is delaying the scheduled launch of production of the successor to its iconic Lada 4x4 small SUV, AvtoVAZ spokesman Igor Burenkov tells the Vedomosti business daily.

“The world will see the new generation of AvtoVAZ’s off-roader in 2016,” company President Igor Komarov is quoted as saying by the Volzhskaya komuna newspaper during the celebration of the 2 millionth Lada 4x4 manufactured in Togliatti, Russia.

Anatoly Moskalyuk, head of the Lada 4x4 project, says production of the new model is slated to start in 2017. Earlier plans called for the launch of the new-generation SUV in late 2014 or early 2015.

However, the new model’s architecture has not even been chosen. The options are a completely new platform or one using some elements of the current vehicle.

“Our team is currently working on both scenarios,” Moskalyuk is quoted as saying by the Carobka.ru website. A final decision is to be made by the end of 2013.

The possible involvement of GM-AvtoVAZ, the joint venture between General Motors and AvtoVAZ, is not clear as well.

GM-AvtoVAZ is preparing the second-generation of its Chevrolet Niva SUV, a vehicle originally developed by AvtoVAZ as a successor to the Lada 4x4. Previous plans called for the JV to build both the new Niva and Lada models.

Komarov confirmed in a March 2011 interview that output of the next-generation Lada 4x4 would be transferred to GM-AvtoVAZ. But the situation now is unclear. According to Moskalyuk, a decision about future cooperation with the JV will be made in the near future.

Production of the Lada 4x4, developed during the Soviet era, began in April 1977. At that time, the vehicle’s model name was the Lada Niva 2121. AvtoVAZ retained the Niva name until 2005, when rights to the name were transferred to GM-AvtoVAZ for the Chevrolet Niva. The original Niva then was rebadged the Lada 4x4.

The 2 million-unit production figure achieved several days ago included output of a stretched version of the Lada 4x4.

In addition, more than 200,000 assembly kits of the Lada 4x4 have been shipped toplants in Russia as well as in Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uruguay. The SUV currently is assembled from semi-knocked-down kits at the Azia Avto plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan.

In its first years, the Lada Niva was successfully exported from the then-Communist Soviet Union to markets including Western Europe as a simple and affordable vehicle with good off-road qualities. But the SUV received only minor modernizations over the years and lost its appeal as Western auto makers introduced new models.

AvtoVAZ still exports thousands of Lada 4x4s to Western and Central Europe yearly, but the primary markets are Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries. In 2012, the auto maker manufactured 65,851 complete Lada 4x4 vehicles and 6,505 assembly kits.

The Lada 4x4 is powered by a 1.7L gasoline engine making 83 hp. The basic 3-door version is 147 ins. (374 cm) long, and the stretched 5-door vehicle is 167 ins. (424 cm) long.

While the current model is expected to remain in production until 2017, AvtoVAZ plans to modernize the vehicle.