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AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftoˈvas) is a Russian
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ ( rus, ВАЗ), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (russian: Во́лжский автомоби́льный заво́д, Vólzhskiy avtomobíl'nyy zavód, link=no). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of Lada vehicles. In the Soviet Union, its products used various names, including Zhiguli,
Oka Oka or OKA may refer to: Cars * Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ * OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA Military * 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mort ...
, and
Sputnik Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for ...
, which were phased out in the 1990s and replaced by Lada for the Russian market. From December 2019 to August 2020, AvtoVAZ sold Niva cars with
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...
branding. AvtoVAZ was established in 1966 by the Soviet government as a state-run car manufacturer. It was privatized in the 1990s and was a subsidiary of
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
from October 2016 to May 2022. In May 2022, it was re-acquired by the Russian government. The company is indirectly owned by Russian state enterprises through Lada Auto Holding.


History


Establishment

The VAZ plant was established in 1966 by the Soviet government in cooperation with the Italian car manufacturer
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
. (later Minister of Automobile Industry) was named as director, and Vladimir Solovyov as chief designer. The plant intended to produce popular economy cars that would meet the growing demand for personal transport. It was built on the banks of the
Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
in 1966. A
new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
,
Tolyatti Tolyatti ( rus, Толья́тти, p=tɐlʲˈjætʲ(ː)ɪ), also known as Togliatti, formerly known as Stavropol (1737–1964), is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which does not serve as the administrative center ...
, named after
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
leader Palmiro Togliatti, was built around the plant The cost of the VAZ plant was estimated at $800 million in 1970 (equivalent to $ billion in ). The cars to be produced (designated as " Zhiguli") was envisaged as a "people's car" like the Citroën 2CV or the
VW Type 1 The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
. Production was intended to be 220,000 units a year, beginning in 1971 (other sources listed 300,000 in 1971); car production actually began before the plant was finished in 1970. The VAZ trademark, at first, was a silver Volga boat on a red pentagonal background, with "Togliatti" superimposed in
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...
(Тольятти); the first badges, manufactured in
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, mistakenly had the Cyrillic "Я" rendered "R", instead (Тольʀтти), making them collector's items. The company was not as vertically integrated as other Soviet enterprises; for example, it purchased components from a variety of suppliers over which it exerted little control; in the early years of the company certain parts and subassemblies were imported from Fiat's suppliers in Italy until they could be locally sourced.


1970s

The first VAZ-2101 was produced on 22 April 1970, the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth. About 22,000 VAZ-2101s were built in 1970, with capacity at the end of 1973 reaching 660,000 a year; 21 December, the one-millionth 2101 was built. A third production line was added in October 1974, boosting output to 2,230 cars a day. The same year, total VAZ production reached 1.5 million. The VAZ plant was described as "ultra-modern" by the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' in a 1973 article. Production reached 750,000 cars a year in 1975, making the Tolyatti plant the third-most productive in the world. Between 1977 and 1981, AvtoVAZ acquired 30 welding robots from Japanese firms. In 1974, VAZ was given permission to begin producing
Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...
s under licence from NSU.Thompson, p.209. Work began in 1976, with a single-rotor Lada appearing in 1978; the first 250 of these went on sale in the summer of 1980. After having built a number of prototypes and experimental vehicles, AvtoVAZ designers launched the first car entirely of their own design, the VAZ-2121 Niva, in 1977. This highly popular and innovativeThompson, p.238.
sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon defini ...
(SUV) was made with off-road use in mind, featuring a gearbox with a central differential lock lever, as well as a low- and high-range selector lever. The
VAZ-2105 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is ...
, based on the Fiat 124 mechanicals, but modernised and restyled, was introduced in 1979 and marketed outside the Soviet Union under the Riva or Laika trade names, depending on the country. Square headlights and new body panels distinguish this car from the earlier models. The 2105 was third-best selling
automobile platform A car platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components, over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of cars, often from different, but somewhat related, marques. It is pra ...
after the
Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
and the
Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
, and one of the longest production run platforms alongside the Volkswagen Beetle, the Hindustan Ambassador, and the
Volkswagen Type 2 The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), is a forward control light commercial vehicle introduced in 1950 by the Ge ...
.


1980s

In May 1980, a series of mass strikes at the Togliatti plant involving hundreds of thousands of workers was reported by the western press. Based on the success of the Niva, the design department prepared a new family of
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...
models by 1984, which was of a completely domestic design. Production started with the VAZ-2108 ''Sputnik'' three-door hatchback, the series was commercially known as
Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...
. It was the first front-wheel drive serial car built in the Soviet Union after the LuAZ- 969V. A white 2108 became the nine-millionth Lada built, on 24 May 1985, with the ten-millionth, on 9 October 1986, also a 2108. The twelve-millionth, a right-hand drive 2109, was produced 6 July 1989. By the late 1980s, AvtoVAZ was suffering from the deterioration of its
capital goods The economic concept of a capital good (also called complex product systems (CoPS),H. Rush, "Managing innovation in complex product systems (CoPS)," IEE Colloquium on EPSRC Technology Management Initiative (Engineering & Physical Sciences Researc ...
, such as tools and machinery, resulting from insufficient levels of investment over a long period. Unproductive and antiquated management techniques also contributed to the decline, as did the absence of market competition. The first privately owned AvtoVAZ dealership was established by Boris Berezovsky in 1989. Dealerships quickly turned into criminal rackets that at times simply stole cars from the factory.


After privatization

In June 1991,
Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The com ...
was hired by the Soviet government to conduct an appraisal of AvtoVAZ and negotiate a venture with a Western partner, in preparation for the privatization of the company. An independent trade union was started during the same year, as workers deemed the traditional trade union to be too close to the interests of management. In January 1993, AvtoVaz was re-established as a joint-stock company under Russian law. The company came to be controlled by the management, including Vladimir Kadannikov, head of AvtoVAZ. It was listed on the Moscow Exchange. As with many other privatized post-Soviet companies, the financial situation at AvtoVAZ was dire, with workers being unpaid for months at a time. In 1994, Boris Berezovsky's dealership company, called Logovaz, accounted for nearly 10% of the domestic sales of AvtoVAZ. Despite the state of the Russian economy at the time, demand for AvtoVAZ cars remained buoyant, but widespread corruption in the distribution network led the company to accumulate massive debts. The 110-series sedan was introduced in 1995, two years after its original 1993 deadline. Development costs for the car were estimated at $2 billion. The 2111 station wagon followed in 1998 and the 2112 hatchback completed the range in 2001. By 1995, car sales, distribution, and spare parts at AvtoVAZ were all controlled by criminal organizations. This situation was made possible by the close relationship that existed between the criminals and part of the management. Additionally, gangsters were used to control the workers and break strikes. By late 1996, AvtoVAZ had become the country's largest tax debtor, owing $2.4 billion in unpaid taxes. In 1997, the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched Operation Cyclone, an investigation that ultimately uncovered evidence that gangsters connected to AvtoVAZ had carried out at least 65 murders of company managers, dealers, and business rivals. The
1998 Russian financial crisis The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had ...
improved the company's market position, by improving the effectiveness of export sales and making imported cars too expensive for most Russians. The VAZ-2120 Nadezhda, a minivan based on the Lada Niva, was introduced in 1998. In the second half of the 1990s, some efforts were made to improve the quality of production, but in 1999, nearly 50,000 cases of cars were still being assembled with missing parts. In 2001, GM-AvtoVAZ, a joint venture with
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
, was established. Increased competition from foreign car manufacturers had the company's share of the Russian market fall to 49% in 2002, compared to 56% four years earlier. In 2003, VAZ presented the
concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
Lada Revolution, an open single-seater
sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
powered by a 1.6-L engine producing . Production of the
Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...
used on some Lada models (mostly the police versions) stopped in 2004. The introduction of the new
Kalina Kalina may refer to: People * Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of the northern coastal areas of South America * Kalina language, or Carib, the language of the Kalina people * Kalina (given name) * Kalina (surname) * Noah Kalina, ...
B-segment lineup to the market occurred in 2005. AutoVAZ built a new modern plant for this model and was hoping to sell some 200,000 cars annually. The Kalina had been originally designed in the early 1990s, and its launch was repeatedly delayed, exemplifying the company's difficulty in bringing products to market in time. In October 2005, control of the company, which had until then been exercised by subsidiaries of AvtoVAZ connected to Kadannikov, was transferred to
Rosoboronexport JSC Rosoboronexport (russian: AO Рособоронэкспорт, ''Rosoboroneksport'') is the sole state intermediary agency for Russia's exports/imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services. The Rosoboronexport ...
. March 2007 had the start of production of Lada Priora, a restyled and modernised 110-series model.


Involvement of Renault-Nissan

In March 2008,
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
purchased a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ in a US$1 billion deal, with
Rostec Rostec ( rus, Ростех, p=, r=Rostekh), officially the State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology Industrial Product Rostec (russian: Государственная корпорация по � ...
retaining most of the remaining 75%. The deal was agreed at a time when the Russian car market was booming. The onset of the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
caused considerable problems to the company. By April 2009, AvtoVAZ was on the verge of bankruptcy, which was only avoided because of a $600 million bailout from the Russian government. As an anticrisis measure, the Russian government introduced a car scrappage scheme in March 2010. Avtovaz sales doubled in the second quarter of 2010 as a result, and the company returned to profit. By the end of 2010, automotive production in Russia had returned to precrisis levels. In 2011, production of the classic Fiat 124-based 2105 and 2107 series models was completely moved from the Togliatti plant to the IzhAvto plant near
Izhevsk Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city ...
, to make space for the company's forthcoming 2016 model. In April 2012, AvtoVAZ confirmed the end of the model 2107 ( Lada Riva or Lada Nova), after more than 40 years. Sales of the Lada Granta, a
subcompact car Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Pr ...
developed in collaboration with Renault, started in December 2011. The
Lada Largus The Lada Largus is a compact estate car built by the Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ since 2012. It is essentially a rebadged version of the Renault-developed first generation Dacia Logan MCV and is produced as a joint project with Renault and Niss ...
was launched in the Russian market in the middle of July 2012. In August 2012, the Lada XRAY concept car was launched at the Moscow International Automobile Salon. The XRAY was designed by chief designer
Steve Mattin Steve Mattin (born 29 October 1964) is a British automobile designer. He is known as the chief designer of AvtoVAZ Lada, as well as the designer of Mercedes ML-Class and GL-Class E vehicles. Personal background Steve Mattin was born in Bedfo ...
, formerly of
Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
and
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...
. The second generation of the Lada Kalina, basically a facelifted first generation, was also revealed at the 2012 Moscow International Motor Show. The Kalina was also produced with a more powerful version named Lada Kalina Sport. On 3 May 2012, the Renault-Nissan alliance signed a letter of intent to raise its stake in Avtovaz to 51.01%. On 12 December 2012, the Renault–Nissan Alliance formed a joint venture with Roste (Alliance Rostec Auto BV) with the aim of becoming the long-term controlling shareholder of AvtoVAZ. In the same year, it was announced that Avtovaz and
Sollers Sollers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Philippe Sollers (born 1936), French writer and critic * Augustus Rhodes Sollers (1814–1862), American politician See also * Sollers JSC Sollers, formerly known as OAO Seversta ...
planned to jointly produce vehicles in Kazakhstan. The plant was set to open in 2016 and built in
Ust-Kamenogorsk Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan. Population: Name The city has two official names. In th ...
, in the eastern part of the country, to produce around 120,000 cars a year.


Later developments

In November 2013, Bo Andersson joined AvtoVAZ as CEO, the first non-Russian to head the company. He became involved in conflicts with local suppliers, which he accused of supplying low-quality products. The takeover of AvtoVAZ was completed in June 2014, and the two companies of the Renault-Nissan Alliance took a combined 67.1% stake of Alliance Rostec, which in turn acquired 74.5% of AvtoVAZ, thereby giving Renault and Nissan indirect control over the Russian manufacturer. In 2014, AvtoVAZ sold 448,114 vehicles, down 16.3% comparing to the previous year, due to the overall market slowdown in Russia. The total production capacity of the Togliatti factory is 910,000 vehicles. By 2014, the company's liabilities exceeded assets by 68 billion rubles, for UK-based
Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
to express "significant doubt" about the company's "ability to continue as a going concern". In 2014, the Largus got a new modification, the Lada Largus Cross. In the fall of 2014 AvtoVAZ began production of a new Kalina model, the Lada Kalina Cross. Production of the Lada Vesta, based on a new b\C platform developed by AvtoVAZ in cooperation with Renault-Nissan Alliance, started on September 25, 2015, at Lada Izhevsk manufacturing site. For the first time in Lada history, only a year had passed between concept car and start of production. Lada XRAY was the first compact city crossover in company's history. Starts of sales was held on February 14, 2016. Total Lada sales in 2015 amounted to 269,096 cars, of which 207,389 were built by AvtoVAZ in Tolyatti, while the rest were made by Lada Izhevsk, giving the company a 17.9% share of the Russian automotive market. In March 2016, Nicolas Maure became the company's CEO. In April 2016, Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan Chairman, ceded his AvtoVAZ chairmanship position to Sergey Skvortsov, Deputy General Director of Rostec, the minority shareholder in Avtovaz. Despite massive layoffs since 2008, in 2016, the company remained unprofitable.


Groupe Renault takeover

In October 2016, Renault invested $1.33 billion in another recapitalization of AvtoVAZ, this time without involvement from Nissan, making the company a subsidiary of the French group. In September 2017, Nissan sold its AvtoVAZ stake to Renault for €45 million. In December 2018, Renault and Rostec completed the acquisition of all AvtoVAZ shares through their Alliance Rostec venture. The company then delisted from the Moscow Exchange. In 2018, AvtoVAZ posted a net profit of $90.5 million, its first positive result in a decade. In June 2019, Rostec announced it would eventually reduce its stake in AvtoVAZ to 25%. In December 2021, Renault and Rostec transferred its shares from the Netherlands-registered Alliance Rostec to the Russia-registered Lada Auto Holding. The new holding kept the same Renault-Rostec shareholding ratio as its Dutch predecessor. In March 2022, following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
and international pressure to doing so, Renault said it was "assessing" its AvtoVAZ ownership. In December 2019, AvtoVAZ acquired General Motors' stake in their GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture. As part of the deal, AvtoVAZ used Chevrolet branding for the Niva models until August 2020, before replacing it with Lada. In January 2021, following a company revamp, Renault said it would integrate Lada and sister
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...
brands into a new business unit. AvtoVAZ was made part of the business unit structure.


Re-nationalization

On 16 May 2022, Renault said it had sold its controlling stake in AvtoVAZ to the Central Research and Development Automobile and Engine Institute (NAMI), a state-backed research center, for one rouble. The agreement has a buyback option for Renault within six years after the sale.


Company structure


Ownership

After its re-establishment as a joint stock company in January 1993, the ownership structure of AvtoVAZ became opaque, with two different management groups controlling the majority of the shares, one led by company chairman Kadannikov, holding 33.2% through the AVVA company, while another group held 19.2% through the AFC company. AvtoVAZ, in turn, owned over 80% of AVVA, which was said to be under the influence of Boris Berezovsky. , AvtoVAZ's owner is Lada Auto Holding, which is a joint venture between two state enterprises, NAMI and Rostec.


Subsidiaries and affiliates

Various AvtoVAZ's subsidiaries and affiliates produce vehicles within Russia. The main plant is the one in Tolyatti, with three assembly lines, which assembled 312,000 cars in 2016. Lada West Togliatti is a car manufacturing plant within the Tolyatti complex, formerly owned by GM-AvtoVAZ. , its production has been halted. Lada Izhevsk, a company established in 1965 and that adopted its present name in 2017, has one assembly line and produced 96,000 cars in 2016.
VIS-AVTO VIS-AVTO ( rus, ВИС-АВТО), originally called VAZInterServices ( rus, ВАЗинтерСервис), is a Russian company owned by AvtoVAZ and focused on the manufacturing of Lada-based light commercial vehicles and vehicle conversion. A ...
is a company established in 1991. It converts AvtoVAZ cars into
commercial vehicles A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...
and produces Bronto-badged Nivas. It assembled 4,146 vehicles in 2015. Lada Sport is AvtoVAZ's motorsport and performance subsidiary which produced 3,153 cars in 2015. Apart from its own facilities, AvtoVAZ has associated companies for production. CJSC Super-Avto, a company associated to AvtoVAZ and established in 1997, is focused on the modification of Lada cars. In 2015, it converted 569 of them. In June 2016, the company filed for bankruptcy, but it resumed business by late 2016.
ChechenAvto ChechenAvto ( ce, ChechenAuto) (russian: Чеченавто) is a Chechen automobile manufacturer based in Argun, Chechen Republic. Established as a machine-building plant in 1960, it acquired its current status in 2008. It was known as Pishchemash ...
, a
state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
based in
Argun Argun may refer to: * Argun (surname) * Argun, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Argun Urban Okrug, a municipal formation which the town of republic significance of Argun in the Chechen Republic, Russia is incorporated as * Argun, ...
, produced 6,700 cars in 2016. AvtoVAZ has had overseas partners for assembly in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan  and other countries. , other relevant AvtoVAZ subsidiaries include JSC Lada-Service (a holding of the AvtoVAZ-controlled dealerships which exists in its present form since 2007), JSC Lada-Image (official spare parts distributor in Russia, established in 2003), PPPO LLC, ZAK LLC, LIN LLC, Sockultbilt-AvtoVAZ LLC, and Lada International Ltd. AvtoVAZ financial affiliate is RN Bank, a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
whose controllers are
UniCredit Bank Russia AO UniCredit Bank is a Russian bank headquartered in Moscow. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Italy-based UniCredit Group. History ZAO International Moscow Bank (IMB) was founded on 19 October 1989. In 2005, Bank Austria along with its pare ...
, AvtoVAZ's former parent Renault (through
RCI Banque RCI Banque SA (), trading as Mobilize Financial Services and formerly known as RCI Bank and Services and as Renault Crédit International, is a France-based international company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault. RCI Banque specialis ...
), and Nissan. The first financial affiliate for AvtoVAZ was
AvtoVAZbank RN Bank ( rus, РН Банк) is a Moscow-based joint venture bank established in 2013 and owned by UniCredit Bank Russia (as majority holder), RCI Banque and Nissan. It is aimed at financing car sales for the local car manufacturer AvtoVAZ. T ...
, which operated as such from 1988 to 1996. In 1997, it was replaced by Lada-Credit (originally named Automotive Banking House).


Currently produced models

*
Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (russian: link=no, ВАЗ-2121, ВАЗ-2131, Лада Нива), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) off-road c ...
(off-road car, also known as VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131 and Lada 4x4, since 1977) * Lada Niva Travel (off-road car, since 2020) * Lada Granta (subcompact car, also known as VAZ-2190, VAZ-2191, VAZ-2192, and VAZ-2194 since 2011) *
Lada Largus The Lada Largus is a compact estate car built by the Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ since 2012. It is essentially a rebadged version of the Renault-developed first generation Dacia Logan MCV and is produced as a joint project with Renault and Niss ...
(since 2012) * Lada Vesta (compact car, since 2015) * Lada XRAY (crossover, since 2016)


Export

Exports of AvtoVAZ vehicles to the West began in 1974; Ladas were sold as in several Western nations during the 1970s and 1980s, though trade sanctions banned their export to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Economic instability in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, combined with tightening emissions regulations and increasing stringency of safety legislation, triggered the withdrawal of AvtoVAZ from most Western markets by late 1997. In later years, Lada again began exporting vehicles. Lada products are marketed in Russia,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
,
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
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Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
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Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
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Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
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Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
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Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
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Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
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Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
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Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
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Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
, Serbian Republic,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
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Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. In 2015, 28,461 Lada cars were exported, mostly to Kazakhstan (14,278 vehicles), Azerbaijan (4,690), Belarus (2,360), Egypt (2,128), and Germany (1,515).


Effects stemming from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 3 March 2022 AvtoVAZ announced the suspension of the assembly of cars in Tolyatti and Izhevsk from 5 March. The company issued a press release blaming 'the ongoing crisis in the supply of electronic components.'


Motorsport

In 1970, AvtoVAZ
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Viktor Polyakov set the task to create sport versions of the Lada 2101. The engines were built in Italy, whereas fine tuning was done by engineers in Togliatti. In 1971, three sport cars based on the 2101 model took part in the Soviet Winter Rally Championship. Later in the same year, a VAZ-Autoexport team earned their first prize, the Silver Cup in the 1971 Tour d'Europe. In the 1970s–1980s, the Autoexport racing team, using different Lada models, participated in different motorsport competitions. A special Zhiguli class was created for the Soviet Rally Championship. There were different rally and track races featuring Avtovaz sports cars. In 1978, a Lada Niva took part in the famous
Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...
. It was also successful in a number of international competitions. In 1981, Guy Moerenhout Racing made two special models for Lada Belgium: Lada 21011 RS Sport, model with two Weber carburetors and special sport equipment, and Lada Niva Dream, with big wing extension, special colours and larger wheels. In the late 1990s, Lada Canada supported a rally operation in the Canadian Rally Championship, winning in the 'Production 1750' class on numerous occasions. In 2012, the Lada Granta Cup was launched. The first stage of the new race series began in Moscow on the Myachkovo
race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...
.


World Touring Car Championship

In the 2013 season, AvtoVAZ returned to the WTCC championship through Lada Sport. The team used a new car: the Lada Granta WTCC, driven by WTCC World Champion
Robert Huff Robert Peter "Rob" Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the ...
. The team returned for the
2014 World Touring Car Championship season The 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for Super 2000 Cars. It was the eleventh FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the tenth since the ...
, again fielding a Granta. Since the beginning of 2015, the Lada team took part in the WTCC as Lada Sport Rosneft. Starting in the 2015 season, Lada Sport used Lada Vestas. The official Lada Sport team left the category at the end of the 2016 season, although an unofficial entry by the RC Competition team kept the Vesta on the grid for another year. In 2021, Lada Sport had a one-off entry for the final race of the TCR-spec
World Touring Car Cup The FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated to WTCR, referring to the use of TCR regulations) was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It ...
at the Sochi Autodrom.


Sponsorship

Lada sponsored the
Renault F1 Team The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engin ...
in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
after they signed Russia's first Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov.


See also

*
List of AvtoVAZ vehicles This is a list of vehicles designed or produced by AvtoVAZ, a Russian carmaker best known under its Lada brand. Current models * Lada 4x4 (Lada Niva/VAZ-2121) - off-road vehicle **Lada 4x4 3-door **Lada 4x4 5-door **Lada Niva Urban 4x4 3-doo ...
*
Automotive industry in the Soviet Union The automotive industry in the Soviet Union spanned the history of the state from 1929 to 1991. It started with the establishment of large car manufacturing plants and reorganisation of the AMO Factory in Moscow in the late 1920s–early 1930s, du ...
* Automobile model numbering system in USSR and Russia


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links


Lada official website

Lada official website
*
Official history of Lada line-up

Specifications cars AvtoVAZ (Lada)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avtovaz Buildings and structures in Tolyatti Italy–Soviet Union relations Multinational companies headquartered in Russia Companies formerly listed on the Moscow Exchange