Even With Embargos, Russia Gets A Better Chevrolet Crossover
The recent round of trade embargos might have hurt Russia’s new vehicle market, but there’s no question that they’ve gotten the better deal when it comes to a small Chevrolet crossover.
Somehow, we ended up with the Chevrolet Trax, while Russians get this, the Chevrolet Niva. The current Chevrolet Niva is based on the venerable Lada Niva off-roader, arguably the zenith of Soviet-era automotive ingenuity. Even with the relatively new bodywork of the existing model, the Niva still uses the same taiga-tough underpinnings that are also incredibly simple to repair. If anyone reads Russian, you can let us know what kind of changes are being planned for the next-generation car.
CAFE, safety standards and a whole other host of issues will likely make a body-on-frame Lada-based small off-roader a total non-starter for America. Like the Thai-market Trailblazer, it’s probably better off admired from afar.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Boys like their toys, but girls buy the cars (women purchase 60 percent of all new cars and 53 percent of used cars). Fantasize about the new Niva all we want, the Americanized Chevy Trax is a soft-roader for her.
Not buyin russian stuff. Putin is crazy. End of discussion.
"the zenith of Soviet-era automotive ingenuity" I do so very much enjoy the writing on this site. :-)
Way to completely rip off the Ford Ecosport, Chevy. Like, China-level rip-off here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EcoSport#mediaviewer/File:Ford_Novo_EcoSport.jpg