Russia’s GM-AvtoVAZ to Unveil Next-Gen Chevrolet Niva in 2014

VIENNA – GM-AvtoVAZ, the 50/50 joint venture between General Motors and Russia’s Lada manufacturer AvtoVAZ, will unveil the second-generation Chevrolet Niva small cross/utility vehicle at the Moscow auto show in August 2014, Managing Director Jeffrey Glover is quoted as saying by the automotive website avtosreda.ru.

“Plans call for a 1.8L gasoline engine with about 125 hp,” he says on the site.

The current model has a 1.7L gasoline engine delivering 80 hp. There are no plans at present to use a diesel engine. However, the new Niva will be designed in a way that a diesel can be installed in the future.

“Our next-generation Chevrolet Niva will hit the streets in 2015,” Glover says in the company’s New Year’s message.

The Togliatti plant manufactured 62,981 vehicles last year, up 9% from 2011, marking a new high in the JV’s history.

GM-AvtoVAZ sold 63,023 vehicles in 2012, including 60,279 units in Russia and 2,744 in other Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

More than 469,000 Nivas have been delivered since the start of production in 2002. “GM-AvtoVAZ plans to produce 62,500 Chevrolet Niva vehicles in 2013,” the company says in a statement.

GM-AvtoVAZ also says it is expanding its production facilities, including a new press shop and body shop, as well as engineering support facilities in the special economic zone of Togliatti. The project will raise the JV’s capacity to 120,000 vehicles annually by 2015.