Lada Niva Concept, the preview and confirmation of the new generation of the Russian off-roader par excellence

In a world dominated by vehicles that pretend to be something they are not, where SUVs fill and dominate the sales charts, where genuine off-roaders barely survive the onslaught of their predecessors or give in to an eager clientele demanding that classic off-roaders be softened into domesticated crossovers, the revival of the new Lada Niva from the concept car Lada Niva Vision shows that, at least in markets where the original is still sold after 45 years, small off-roaders still make sense and have a place.

Although it looks very similar to the model still on sale, even more so than that spectacular prototype called Lada 4×4 Vision, which was the first attempt at a second generation and which we recalled just yesterday in the memory lane of unsuccessful projects in connection with the presentation of the brutal Dacia Bigster Concept, the first image that anticipates a new Lada Niva, as such and not under the 4×4 name, shows a vehicle that updates the model’s appearance into current digital design language without breaking with its original aesthetic, which is worth appreciating, applauding and recognizing.

Like the Suzuki Jimny, the Lada Niva is an off-roader in every sense of the word, timeless, indestructible and unaffected by the passage of time since its sales began in 1976, and to this day the vehicle has stayed more faithful to its appearance than any other vehicle built, as it has hardly changed at all.

At least until now or, at least, until 2024, the year the new Lada Niva that enters production based on the Vision prototype shown by the Renault Group, following the presentation of the roadmap for the various subsidiaries, Renaulution, in which Lada, now together with Dacia, will share synergies for a new joint venture.

The result of the synergy between Lada and Dacia

A merger with brand independence that will replace, whether necessary or not, given the success of the original, the Lada Niva, and that will have a lot to do with the Dacia Sandero of 2021, since, based on the platform that the compact model of the Romanian brand will serve as the basis for its manufacture, the same will be done with the Lada Niva 2024.

That is, the Dacia Sandero, especially the more rugged Stepway configuration, and the new-generation Lada Niva will share DNA through their assembly on the CMF-B modular platform. It will have a short-wheelbase and a long-wheelbase body and, in any case, all-wheel drive.

Although the aforementioned Dacia Sandero Stepway, in its more rugged configuration, which we were able to test, was of the now-extinct generation, it showed us that its on-road qualities are really far from those that the Dacia Duster itself offers, standing out as possibly one of the best SUVs for off-road tasks and activities.

Given the experience in this type of activity, the information gathered over almost five decades for a single model, and the new technology applied by and for the vehicles of the Groupe Renault, we expect that the Lada Niva will not give in to an audience accustomed to never leaving the asphalt and will not lose an iota of its magnificence as an off-roader.