LADA sells better in Germany than Jaguar and Land Rover

The sales of Russian Lada cars increased four times in Germany in March in comparison with the same period of the previous year, Avtostat reports. Lada Deutschland GmbH, the official importer of AvtoVAZ in Germany, reported the sales increase of 154 percent over the first quarter of the year – 1,397 cars were sold.

Lada cars have thus made progress on the list of bestselling cars in Germany. Russian cars took the 31st position of the list in January (three positions up). Lada’s popularity in Germany has outstripped Jaguar, Saab and Lancia. The Russian brand also left behind Britain’s Land Rover and took the 29th place.

The growing demand on the Russian cars is mainly based on the introduction of the recycling bonus, which sets the price on Lada Kalina on the level of 6,000 euros.

Lada is the trademark of AvtoVAZ, a Russian car manufacturer in Togliatti, Samara Oblast. All AvtoVAZ vehicles sold currently are of the Lada brand but this has not always been so. Ladas were AvtoVAZ's export vehicles, the same models being sold under the Zhiguli brand on the domestic Soviet market since 1970.

They became extremely popular during the later Cold War years in Russia and Eastern Europe, particularly the former Soviet bloc countries where they have become a symbol of city life. From cities like Prague to Astana, Kazakhstan Lada cars are a very common automobile on the urban landscape.

Lada made its name in Western Europe selling the Fiat 124-based VAZ-2101 and its many derivatives as an economy car in large quantities during the 1980s, but subsequent models have not enjoyed the same success.