LADA, the leading brand of manufacturer AUTOVAZ in Russia have made over thirty million cars. To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first car assembled in the Togliatti factory too. September the 24th 2020 was the milestone date.

They couldn’t have timed it better. The LADA that most of us in the UK know is the VAZ 2101. This was the first car to be produced on the Volga Automobile plant’s assembly line. Six VAZ 2101 Zhiguli were made. Two in blue and four in cherry red to symbolise the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic flag. This small start would lead to something huge. 30,000,000 is a staggering number of cars.

From the first day on April 19, 1970, LADA produced some 4.8 million of the 2101 and family variants which was in production until 1988. This was based on the 1967 car of the year winning Fiat 124. This is a similar to the FSO deal in Poland with the 125P. I’ll plug the 50th anniversary article again. The VAZ 2101 was awarded Russian car of the century in 2000.

The 2105 was built alongside from 1979 and eventually replaced the earlier car. It was essentially a development of the same vehicle and was to target foreign markets. In the UK we got the Riva. Of course, these cars underwent a range of significant modifications to withstand the rigours of Russian road and winters. Durability being a major selling feature of the cars. 

The anniversary ceremony was held in the presence of Luca DE MEO, Chief Executive Officer of Renault S.A. and Chief Executive Officer of Renault s.a.s., and President of AVTOVAZ Yves Caracatzanis. Since 2016 Group Renault have taken ownership of the company.

The 30 million LADA was a red Granta sedan in a special #CLUB series. This will become an exhibit of the LADA corporate Museum. This is somewhere I would love to visit.

President of AVTOVAZ Yves Caracatzanis said:

“The First LADA has completely changed automotive history of Russia. VAZ-2101 gave mobility to millions of people, and LADA Granta continues this glorious history. Today it is the number one car in sales in Russia. Granta has an expressive design, provides confidence in all situations and represents the perfect value for money. I would like to thank the LADA Granta production team and all the AVTOVAZ team. Thank you for your excellent work and congratulations on the release of the 30-millionth car!

Congratulations LADA!

Simon

There’s some good photos in the Facebook page galleries.