AvtoVAZ vehicles in international markets

Lada made its name in Western Europe selling large volumes of the VAZ-2101 and its many derivatives as an economy car during the 1980s.

Exported worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s, Lada was a big foreign currency earner for the hard-pressed Soviet Union and was used in barter arrangements in some countries.

For example, Coca-Cola traded its drinks in exchange for Lada cars which were then shipped to the United Kingdom and sold.

[2] Economic instability in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, tightening emissions and safety legislation meant that AvtoVAZ withdrew from most Western markets by the late 1997.

The Lada is marketed in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and within the European Union, it has been made available in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, and Egypt.

[3] Ladas arrived in Brazil in 1990, when Brazilian president Fernando Collor lifted the ban on car imports.

Following their arrival, Lada cars were regarded by consumers and local specialized media, as outdated and inefficient but their commercial success was due to the Lada's publicity campaign which gave their cars an image of imported vehicle affordable for almost everyone, combined with consumer curiosity for imported products, a novelty at the time.

Most of the Nivas and Laikas sold in Brazil remain operational and used cars command high prices.

The few remaining Laikas, Nivas, and Samaras in Brazil, are using adapted spare parts from other models and makers.

[2] Lada disappeared from Canada after the 1998 model year, replaced by low-cost South Korean automakers.

Ladas had been sold in Chile for some time when a catalytic converter requirement was gradually introduced there beginning in 1987.

It was later shown that the equipment did not meet the requirement, but Chile did not have the requisite technology to verify manufacturer claims on their own.

After the beginning of the decade, under the presidency of Misael Pastrana Borrero, with diplomatic relations between Colombia and the Soviet Union being principally economic, local products were exported in exchange for importing products from the USSR including cars such as the Lada brand.

Nowadays, only vehicles from the old Kia plant in Ecuador, the local factory AYMESA, that arrive like Lada, are already seen in the country, using already a motorization and electronics according to the present times, until 2006, when the importation for this model was ceased for his low demand and a high competence from other vehicle manufacturers from Japan and China.

From 1995 until 2001, Lada Riva sedans, estates, Nivas and Samaras found a market in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Lada Niva 4WD was offered as a pickup truck on an extended wheelbase and with a two-door soft top.

In 1988, approximately 6,000 Lada Samaras were modified by Peter Brock's special vehicles operation that had previously made high performance Holden Commodores.

Meat, dairy and fertiliser exports to Russia were wholly or partly paid for with Belarus tractors, Stolichnaya vodka and Lada cars.

The Certificate of Entitlement system required drivers paying a hefty sum after 10 years to continue driving their cars.

After they ceased to exist, LADA Automobile GmbH Deutschland in Buxtehude took over and imported the Niva with some success, but also Kalina, Vesta or Granta have been sold at some point.

Lada cars were imported to Iceland over some period of time and were popular for several reasons, a few of those were their good DIY features, fitting well to the cold climate, and handling the road conditions of the country.

The import of Russian cars started in 1954 with 100 units of Pobeda, then followed the Moskvich, Volga and finally Lada.

[13] "Lada" means barn in Swedish and was imported to Sweden during the 1970s and 1980s for the Soviet Union to earn foreign currency.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, Asian brands, as well as the newly reintroduced Škoda, forced Lada out of the market in the late 1990s and the importer ceased its operations in 1999.

AvtoVAZ built up a network of UK and Ireland Lada dealers through its marketing associate, Satra Motors.

By 1994, annual sales of the Lada range had fallen to just over 9,000 – less than a third of the peak figures attained six years earlier.

Confronted with the need to meet 1992 EU emission control requirements, Lada tried to continue to use a carburetor with an exhaust catalyst instead of electronic fuel injection.

This failure, along with a shortage of certain imported components and increased competition from Daewoo and Proton in the 1990s, led AvtoVAZ to withdraw from most Western European markets.

It competed well with Japanese rivals such as the Suzuki SJ/Samurai and Daihatsu Fourtrak in practicality and stability and its off-road ability.

These required some local modification of the new General Motors-supplied engines to meet emission control standards.