A tense situation surrounds the assembly of Lada Niva Legend SUVs on AvtoVAZ’s conveyor lines in Togliatti. In September, reports from unofficial social network sources claimed an accumulation of incomplete cars within the factory’s internal premises. The root cause cited was a shortage of seat belts needed to equip the assembled vehicles.
Initially, independent sources suggested hundreds of SUVs were transferred to the old test track area. More recently, Avtograd News reported that the capacity of that site had been exhausted, prompting workers to repurpose the grounds of the disused Lada West plant in Togliatti, formerly GM-AVTOVAZ, where a photo from a parking lot showing Niva vehicles circulated. The financial burden of these incomplete SUVs is believed to run into the thousands, reflecting the scale of the disruption.
To put this in context, AvtoVAZ restarted Niva Legend assembly in July 2022 in the Classic’22 anti-crisis configuration, where seat belts were already a major constraint as a prior supplier withdrew and stock pouches were only enough for an initial batch. Reports mentioned negotiations with a Chinese supplier, but the project ultimately proceeded with new belts sourced domestically from Russia.
- In the following year, AVTOVAZ outlined plans to restore nearly the entire Lada lineup, with updates to the Vesta and the absence of the XRAY at that stage, aiming to surpass pre-crisis production volumes.
- A note to readers: insights can be found on Odnoklassniki under the publication channel Behind the Wheel.