In December 2019, General Motors sold its
50-percent stake in the GM-AvtoVAZ joint-venture which built the Chevrolet Niva
SUV. The buyer was none other than AvtoVaz Group, which last week began
building the rebadged Lada Niva at its plant in Togliatti, Russian Federation.
Changes over the Chevrolet version include a new radiator grille featuring the
Lada logo as well as a Lada-badged steering wheel. Everything else stays
largely the same.
As a reminder, the Chevrolet Niva, which
from now on will be sold as the Lada Niva, is a distinct model from the old
Lada Niva (a.k.a. the VAZ-2121), which remains on sale in Russia as the Lada
4×4. The newer Lada Niva, known as the VAZ-2123, was developed by AvtoVAZ and
entered production in 2000 under the Lada brand. Two years later, the model
began to be manufactured under the Chevrolet brand by the GM-AvtoVAZ joint
venture.
The main components of the Chevrolet Niva,
including the bodywork, chassis and power unit, were produced at AvtoVAZ’s
facilities, while painting and final assembly were undertaken at the partner
production site. In total, AvtoVAZ and GM built more than 700,000 Niva SUVs
since 2000.
AvtoVAZ says demand is still strong for
the ‘new’ Niva despite it being a 20-year-old vehicle. Back in 2014, GM
previewed the next-generation Niva with the Niva Concept. The production model
was supposed to launch in 2016, but those plans never materialized.
