Brand new Lada Niva (3rd generation): what it could be

This year the Lada Niva SUV turned 46 years old. By the standards of the global automobile industry, the car has long reached retirement age, and this was even recognized at AvtoVAZ when preparing a new, third generation of the car. He never managed to see the light and, most likely, is unlikely to succeed. However, this does not prevent us from remembering what a modern Niva could turn out to be.

The project was prepared in close cooperation with Renault. And this was precisely the reason why it was curtailed. The car was designed on the French CMF-B LS platform.

AvtoVAZ did not abandon this “trolley”, retaining it for the new Lada Iskra, but significantly modernized it. But the company clearly no longer had the resources to customize it with Russian components for the new Niva.

Judging by the first official images of the Lada Vision concept, which became a kind of harbinger of the new Niva, the car could receive a design with an eye to the current classic model, but with modern solutions in the form of more voluminous body panels, LED optics, a “West” radiator grille, as well as a body kit made of unpainted plastic and modern large-diameter rims.

The ground clearance should have been impressive by the standards of modern SUVs – 240 mm.

As for the “technique,” ​​it could actually turn out to be revolutionary for Niva and a noticeable step forward in terms of technology compared to the current SUV.

The car was designed with a combination of a 1.3-liter Renault turbo engine and a CVT with off-road modes. All-wheel drive was going to be retained, and full-fledged, as well as the low-range range. According to Renault’s idea, AvtoVAZ engineers were to be responsible for the development of the 4WD system.

It was assumed that Niva 3 would be released in 2024, but, obviously, it now hardly makes sense to wait for such a car to appear.

However, there are rumors that VAZ engineers have taken up the development of the modern Niva anew. But it will be a completely different SUV, which they want to build on a completely different platform and release in the next decade (after 2030).