Chevrolet Niva Regains Lada Badges As AvtoVAZ Completes GM Joint Venture Buyout

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.

See Also: Custom Lada Niva 6×6 Pickup Is A Poor Man’s Mercedes-AMG G63 6×6

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.

“Lada Niva seamlessly complements the Lada lineup, becoming the second all-wheel drive SUV in the family”, said Olivier Morne, Lada Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We intend to further develop its sales, which are now organized in the largest dealer network in Russia, which today has more than 300 sales and service centers,” he added.

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.