AvtoVAZ explained the refusal to produce Lada Priora

Industry

14:00, 17.07.2018 8

The plant abandoned the model due to falling customer demand

Photo: wikipedia.org / Sah68

The Lada Priora, produced since 2007, leaves the assembly line of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant. Having replaced the legendary “ten”, the car leaves without leaving “descendants”. AvtoVAZ believes that the car is outdated and does not fit into the brand’s current product line. It is not yet clear whether a model will appear to replace the Priora, but it is known that in 2022 a car on a new platform will enter the market, which auto component suppliers are now setting up to work with.

Farewell to Lada Priora

Lada Priora is leaving the assembly line of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant, the press service of the enterprise reported. Rumors about the completion of production have been circulating almost since the beginning of the year. Moreover, it was said that, along with the Lada Priora, the concern would also stop producing the Granta and Kalina models. AvtoVAZ initially repeatedly denied these reports, and later refused to comment at all. The situation regarding the fate of Priora became clear only recently. When photographs of the car, which was positioned as the last one, appeared on the Internet, the company’s press service officially confirmed that the model would finally leave the assembly line at the end of July:

“Lada Priora will leave the assembly line in Tolyatti at the end of July. This decision was approved by the company’s management and dictated by the ever-growing interest in the latest Lada models and, as a result, declining demand for the Priora model,” the company’s press service said.

It is reported that the team of assembly line No. 3 will focus on the production of the Lada 4x4 family - it continues to be in stable demand in both domestic and foreign markets. As for Priora, the fact that it’s time to retire is evidenced by sales statistics, which have decreased significantly over the past six months. While other AvtoVAZ models show brilliant results (“Vesta” and “Granta” are in the top three in the all-Russian rating), “Priora” sank greatly and did not even make it into the top 25 most popular cars on the Russian market. The situation remains rosy only in the North Caucasus, where Priora is still the favorite and is among the top three, behind the same Vesta and Granta. However, the model is a confident leader in the segment of used cars (17.1 thousand cars sold) and shows growth (+13 percent).

“Vesta” and “Granta” are in the top three of the all-Russian rating. Photo by Maxim Platonov

The premiere of the new Lada Priora NFR 2022-2023 model years turned out to be fake

AvtoVAZ has officially denied yet another rumor about the revival of the Priora.

The portal received a corresponding comment today from the head of the press, Sergei Ilyinsky. He called the information about the release of the new Lada Priora NFR liftback, recently disseminated by the outrageous Russian YouTube blogger Viktor Stepanov, fiction. He likes to make videos with reviews of non-existent new products (mainly from the Russian automobile industry), passing off outright fakes as insider information.

Viktor Stepanov publishes videos of the supposedly new Lada Priora with enviable regularity, collecting hundreds of thousands of views on his YouTube channel at the expense of careless media. A new video with the Lada Priora liftback 2022-2023 model years received 360 thousand views in less than a week.

Lada Priora NFR

According to the author’s inventions, the new Lada Priora was supposed to be located between classes “D” and “E” and compete in the Russian market with Toyota Camry and Kia K5. Estimated cost - 1,900,000 - 3,200,000 rubles. The new model was supposedly supposed to be created in collaboration with the Stellantis concern based on the EMP2 platform, essentially reworking the latest generation Peugeot 508.

To make the fake material more believable, the blogger also talked about the engine range, as well as on-board equipment and options of the new Lada Priora NFR. As the base engine, the blogger came up with a 1.3-liter diesel engine with a power of 95 hp, combined with a five-speed manual transmission, and for more expensive trim levels - a 1.6-liter gasoline turbo engine with 150 and 180 hp. (depending on boost) paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission from Aisin.

Salon Lada Priora NFR

The equipment mentioned includes all-LED optics with a modern design, frameless side doors, a panoramic roof, a digital instrument panel (12 inches), a touch screen multimedia system (8-10 inches diagonal depending on the configuration), support for key digital content providers (Android Auto and Apple CarPlay), modern security systems and more.

Peugeot 508

In fact, the images of the new Lada Priora NFR are a Peugeot 508 liftback redrawn in Photoshop. The “front” of the blog was redrawn in the Lada “X” style, and in the interior the brand logo was simply added to the steering wheel. In general, the topic of the release of the new Priora is quite hackneyed - we even have a separate report with a selection of fakes related to this model. However, bloggers still manage to attract attention with outright inventions.

As for the real news, AvtoVAZ recently showed the first official teasers of the new Lada Vesta. The new product should be presented soon. Most likely - in the first half of 2022.

People's love and popularity

Production of Lada Priora cars began in 2007, the model became a replacement for the “ten” - VAZ-2110, and turned out to be just as loved by the people as its predecessor. Numerous tuning companies offered countless modifications, turning the modest Priora into something like a racing car with gullwing doors. In recent years, car versions with pneumatic elements in the suspension have become popular, allowing the car body to be lowered onto the asphalt while parked.

In recent years, the plant itself has tried in every possible way to maintain interest in the model, releasing new configurations and adding new options. Some of the latest modifications are versions in white and black colors, which featured 15-inch wheels, two-tone seat upholstery, glossy interior inserts and other options.

Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing of AvtoVAZ PJSC Jan Ptacek believes that the model no longer fits into the company’s current line of cars and creates an incorrect perception of the brand among buyers. And if previously such a car could be found in Lada showrooms, now buyers expect to see something different.

“For its time, the Lada Priora was a very good car that helped AvtoVAZ survive 10 years ago. Due to dramatic changes in the Lada brand over the past three years and the launch of a new generation of cars in 2015-2018. our consumers are changing their perception of the brand. And this, in turn, leads to a decrease in demand for Lada Priora. Thus, we made a logical decision to complete production of this model and concentrate on completely updating the LADA model range in the coming years,” said Ptacek.

That car did not gain much fame, even though it was piloted by the famous British racer, world touring stage winner James Thompson. Photo Morio / wikipedia.org

In total, more than 850 thousand cars have been produced since 2007. The most successful year was 2011, when 138 thousand cars were sold. For some time, the model was produced in the Chechen Republic at the Chechenavto enterprise.

The car also made its mark on the world racing scene. In 2009, the Lada Priora WTCC car debuted on the tracks of the World Touring Championship. However, that car did not gain much fame, even though it was piloted by the famous British racer, world touring stage winner James Thompson. Success for the AvtoVAZ racing team came later with Granta and especially with Vesta. Nevertheless, Priora laid the foundation and rightfully took its place in world racing history. By the way, you can see the racing modification of the car in the park complex of the history of technology named after. Sakharov in Tolyatti.

Why do the owners of the Lada Priora reproach it for its operation?

The car turned out to be too “wooden,” as many buyers put it in their comments and reviews. A rigid suspension does not require constant maintenance, but does not offer comfort either. The packages for affordable prices included a steering wheel, pedals and wheels; the manufacturer did not implement anything else remarkable in the car. Also in extended reviews and among the opinions of experts, the following important disadvantages of the car can be identified:

the robotic gearbox, which debuted in 2015, turned out to be not very reliable, and its repair costs owners incredible amounts of money, so this is a clear drawback;
the interior is made of the simplest plastic, which constantly creaks and emits a not very pleasant smell, the fabric on the seats wears out quickly, you need to buy some kind of covers, the markings on the buttons are erased;
the quality of the engines is difficult to dispute, but the reliability of the engines was in question; some owners of 16-valve units were faced with the need for major overhauls very early;
the car is generally not suitable for long trips; on such trips you need to come up with some improvements for the seats, otherwise the back of the driver and passengers will simply fall apart;
the car had to be seriously modified, installing different optics, some interior parts, improving sound insulation, and also performing a good anti-corrosion treatment every 3-4 years.

But even despite such shortcomings, we are ready to forgive the Priora a lot, since the car has become popular over the years of production and was liked by many Russian families. For some, this was the only opportunity to buy a more or less decent new car. Someone simply supported the domestic manufacturer and was satisfied with the purchase. It will not be possible to find any striking disadvantages in the design of the car, since this very design is extremely simple.

Suppliers without Priora will have a hard time

At the moment, it has not been officially announced whether the Priora will be replaced by a new promising model. Earlier, information appeared that this same model would be shown at the Moscow Motor Show, but this data was not officially confirmed. General Director of the Association of Mechanical Engineering Enterprises “Automotive Industry Cluster of the Samara Region” Andrey Krainov is confident that there is no point in expecting a change in such a near future. The replacement will come in 2022, we are talking about a car on a new platform. According to Krainov, it is this new platform that the suppliers who previously supplied Volga cars will have to work with.

“Those who can only work for Priora will most likely have to leave the automotive industry,” Krainov believes. However, in his opinion, such a fate awaits only those companies that have not developed. “It’s very difficult to bring companies virtually from scratch to the world level, as the market demands. But now we are working with different suppliers and interacting with the regional government. I can say that everyone who works with us, and there are 16 such companies, will be able to continue producing auto components,” Krainov said. He noted that now everything is in the hands of the suppliers themselves - competitions are already being announced for further work with the new platform. And the one who develops production and flexibly responds to the needs of the modern market will win.

Sergey Chernykh
IndustryMechanical EngineeringEconomyTransportBusiness Tatarstan

Is it worth selling a used Priora after production has ceased?

It is not easy to answer this question, since it is a very individual factor. In one case, you should think about selling if you want to buy a new car. But you shouldn’t expect the price of the car to drop after AvtoVAZ’s announcement to stop production. This likely won't impact sales on the secondary market. But if you want to buy a new Priora, now is the time to take care of such a purchase.

Regarding the secondary market, we can only give a few tips:

you should not rush to conclusions, since AvtoVAZ continues to produce spare parts, you will continue to be able to service the car using original components without difficulties;
domestic transport has a good service life, especially with manual transmissions and younger types of engines, a car can travel up to 300-350 thousand km without major breakdowns;
modifications with a robot can be prepared for sale at 100,000 km, since the forced repair of the manual transmission will be a serious blow to the budget of the Russian family, and this is not good news;
The car should also be sold if serious damage to the body is noticed; repairing and welding the body in almost all cases is not economically profitable for the owner;
Don’t rush to discount the price of your car, because buyers can pay good money for a Priora in good condition; you just need to wait for the buyer who likes your car.

Salon

But there are more changes inside. The restyled Lada Priora was equipped with a new three-spoke steering wheel (from the second generation Kalina) and panel. The salon has become more modern. In luxury versions, a multimedia system is available, for which there is a separate visor on the center console. The reader can see what the restyled Lada Priora looks like inside in the photo.

The seats received new upholstery with imitation leather. The design of the door cards has changed. But it wasn't without its drawbacks. As reviews note, the restyled Lada Priora uses hard plastic and has shapeless seats with poorly developed lateral support. They are still adjusted manually. However, luxury versions have heating. A different instrument panel began to be installed on the restyled Priora. But, as reviews note, it is not informative.

The sofa in the back can only seat two people. However, you won’t be able to stay here comfortably. Tall passengers will experience limited knee and headroom. The only comfort element here is the armrest, which is thrown out from the backrest.

From the service entrance

Sent by Natalya Grebneva

Photo: Ruslan Isaev/SmartNews

- one of the first serious economic projects launched in the republic after the war events. Now the Lada Priora is being assembled at the plant. Smartnews visited the enterprise and saw what the authorities and residents of the republic are so proud of.

“Chechenavto” is one of the enterprises that Chechnya is truly proud of. Currently, the plant has one assembly line for the Lada Priora model. Until recently, they also collected Zhiguli cars.

To get to the plant, the SmartNews correspondent had to contact the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the republic, and only after approval from the ministry - directly to the management of the enterprise.

Sent by Natalya Grebneva

Photo: Ruslan Isaev/SmartNews

Today the plant employs 210 people, of which 170 are directly on the assembly line. These are mostly young people, residents of Argun. The production process has already been completed. 73 bodies are simultaneously loaded on the line. Each group of workers has their own responsibilities. The output is a finished car. The whole process takes from one and a half to two hours. The plant says that they could produce one new car every 15 minutes, but for now they are working in this established mode.

Will there be a new model instead of the Priora – what are AvtoVAZ’s plans?

Most likely, the company is preparing space for new models, removing outdated and not so logical cars from production. But these are unlikely to be replacements for Priora and Kalina. The problem is that B-class sedans have oversaturated the company’s model range; other segments are needed that AvtoVAZ could cover with its products. For now, specific plans exist only on paper, and they can change a lot. Nevertheless, we can safely declare the following options for the concern’s actions:

the discontinuation of cars that have begun to lose their liquidity in the new car market; over time, this will happen even to Grant, which was recently updated and released a facelift;
proposal of a completely different concept for the development of Lada, as a joint venture with Renault-Nissan, selection of technologies that could be introduced for Russian production;
the creation of 5-6 new models that will not replace the old ones, but will create a completely new image of the manufacturer and make it more profitable in the eyes of customers, will help raise the company’s image;
constant updating of the offered assortment in order to prevent models from becoming obsolete, that is, working on the principle of modern European concerns in their profitable niches;
Gradual addition of the model range and the withdrawal of those models that do not meet sales expectations will help the company remain profitable and interesting for investors.

Such development will ensure not only the growth of AvtoVAZ as a concern, but also the constant emergence of new domestic vehicles. Of course, the key to success in such a model will be the quality of production. Russians are ready to buy a car that may not have the best appearance, but one that is comfortable, durable and of high quality. So far, the budget segment does not offer many such options, and on this wave Lada can become a favorite national manufacturer.

We suggest you look at the last review of Lada Priora: