Lada Model History

Russia · founded 1966

Russia's best-selling automaker — born from a Fiat licence deal in the Soviet era, home of the iconic Niva off-roader, and still the top-selling brand in the Russian market.

Models

Lada 1200 (VAZ-2101 / Zhiguli)

AvtoVAZ's founding car — a heavily modified Fiat 124 built under Soviet licence, exported globally as the Lada 1200.

Compact car · 1970–1988
Lada Riva (VAZ-2105 / 2107)

A modernised successor to the Zhiguli family — the boxy Riva became one of Europe's most recognisable budget cars across three decades.

Compact car · 1980–2010
Niva (Lada 4×4)

The legendary Soviet-born 4x4 — permanently in production since 1977 and the world's longest-running off-road light vehicle still built in its original form.

Off-road vehicle · 1977–present
Samara (VAZ-2108 / 2109)

Lada's first modern front-wheel-drive hatchback — a 1984 leap forward that brought Western-style packaging to Soviet motoring.

Subcompact car · 1984–2013
Kalina

Lada's purpose-designed modern compact — a home-grown platform replacing the aging Samara, offered as sedan, hatchback, and wagon.

Subcompact car · 2004–2018
Priora

A restyled, modernised compact based on the Lada 110 platform — Lada's mainstream family car for over a decade.

Compact car · 2007–2018
Granta

Lada's best-selling modern model — a Renault-collaborated subcompact that led Russian sales from 2013 to 2015 and remains in production today.

Subcompact car · 2011–present
Largus

A Renault Logan MCV-based compact estate and MPV — Lada's practical family and commercial workhorse since 2012.

Compact MPV · 2012–present
Vesta

Lada's most modern car — a purpose-designed B/C-segment sedan developed with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, launched in 2015 and widely praised for raising the brand's quality bar.

Compact car · 2015–present
XRAY

Lada's first compact city crossover — a B-segment SUV on the Nissan-Renault platform, produced from 2016 until sanctions disrupted supply chains in 2022.

Subcompact SUV · 2016–2022

Other makes