When you think of Eastern European cars, you might be forgiven for instantly thinking of the infamous Trebant, or more perhaps the Russian made Lada. However, you’re not that likely to associate either with prestige or desirability.
Lada are setting out to change that idea once and for all. The company has its roots firmly placed in the Soviet era and achieved huge popularity in the countries of Eastern Europe at the time. A people’s car for Eastern Bloc countries if you will, rather like the Volkswagen but like with VW, things naturally progress and evolve.
While Lada has not traditionally been an aspirational vehicle to own, the company are undergoing a small reinvention of their brand – arguably in a similar way to Nissan’s revival plan from a few years ago. No coincidence then that Lada is owned these days by the Renault-Nissan Alliance. One of the benefits of such a connection is being able to use the same platform – the Nissan B0 – as that used by vehicles like the Juke, which (quite literally) gives the company something to build upon.
Take the Lada XCODE concept, a striking looking leap into the SUV market, although Apple might have some issues with the name, should it progress any further…
Lada chose this year’s increasingly prestigious Moscow Motor Show to reveal the XCODE to the public, with the idea behind the SUV concept being to hint at what Lada could be producing in the near future.
It’s not the first hint that Lada has provided of course. The Lada XRAY concept was revealed in 2014 (also at the Moscow Motor Show) and went into production at the beginning of this year. So when Lada say there are no current plans to put the XCODE into production ‘as yet’ we should not dismiss the chances completely. There is also a distinct possibility that the XCODE will eventually morph into a high-end version of the XRAY.
Lada hasn’t revealed too much detail so far about the XCODE but we do know that the Russian SUV concept will offer 4-wheel drive and the possibility of a turbo-charged engine setup. The interior features an all-digital instrument dash panel, which includes a Lada Connect compatible 10-inch touchscreen info/entertainment system.
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