A brand-new Chevrolet Niva
As it is already customary, the news from the Russian city of Samara region is always two, kind and not very good. The positive thing is that the last Chevrolet Niva will soon be an urban crossover. The bad news is that the next generation of Chevrolet Niva will not be as planned. The whole Chevrolet’s model range.
And the promise was this. In size, the new 2nd generation car will reach Renaud Duster 2015, but it will retain its pure cross-country ability – with a full-fledged all-wheel drive, lowering the transmission, locking the differential between the axles and an independent rear suspension. In addition, in the front, instead of the suspension with a couple of levers, in the end, will be the famous McPherson suspension, and instead of a weak engine with 80 horses – a powerful engine with 135 horsepower, which was developed by the French concern PSA.
This power pack, designed for the expanding market on a platform known for its reliability, the TU series, planned to produce a newly baked plant dedicated exclusively to engines. Among the investors were the Russian ZVD and the company from India Avtec. But from now on it became clear that neither the engine from France, nor the new McPherson suspension will receive the car. Everything affected the financial issue, as these innovations turned out to be too expensive. At that time, the engineering staff had a question and a task to find the necessary, and at the same time not so expensive – the engine.
Vazovsky, 1.8 l, was the best suited for this role. 122 hp hexadecimal unit that has been started to be built for Project C. However, it has reached serial production only now, when the beginning was taken by designing of the powerful car Lada Vesta, the photo of the price of the characteristic can be found by following the link, and Lada X Ray. But will AvtoVAZ, which owns about half of GM-AvtoVAZ’s shares, be able to restore old relations and start supplying engines to a personal rival? Although, apart from litigation on the political side, there are also purely technical ones.
The current Niva gearbox is simply not designed for this torque. Provided that if the quality of its design is improved, then all it can do is 165 N/m. With a similar task today works and VAZ itself, which also needs an engine for the Lada 4×4 NG, the fresh family of Niva. It is clear that VAZ will hardly want to share the found answer, and GM will have no choice but to buy an imported box (according to certain data from Isuzu). But everything rests on the means, which are simply not.
As Natasha Larioncheva of GM-AutoVAZ said: “The official status of the new generation [remains] previous – the work has been suspended. The question remains open, when will the newest Chevrolet Niva be mass-produced? The management of GM-AutoVAZ says that the plan has been suspended due to the fact that GM has recently surrendered. However, we all understand that the program has not ceased to exist and the engineering staff has not been dismissed. Photographs taken at the motor range in Spain and Sweden give these words significance.
However, neither in the next, nor in 2017, this brand will not be mass-produced. If you pay attention to the sources from Togliatti, for the first time Chevrolet Niva will appear only in the summer of 2018, if nothing prevents, and there will be a favorable development of events. Now, marketers are facing an important task – to convince people to buy the past model of the Niva. Initially, the management tried to expand the arsenal of versions, thereby improving off-road properties of the car.
However, instead of this idea, it was decided to determine the look of the city people and to make a city crossover from Niva. According to the similar project Lada 4×4 Urban was to be designed, however, VAZ cost only the updated bumpers and seats. Company GM aspires to go even further. The engine will remain the same, the volume of 1.7 liters, but will acquire an adapted light group of connecting rods and pistons. Moreover, it is planned to improve the cylinder head, and the machine itself will receive an underestimated suspension, improved noise isolation, fully disk brakes and 17-inch wheels.
At the moment, there is an experiment of a test sample, which, if you trust the words of Togliatti, must arrive at the conveyor belt at the end of the year. The idea of an experimental model of only positive character. Thanks to the increase in power, the model is more dynamic. Of course, it is too early to talk about the appearance and price factor, but it seems that the new Chevrolet-Niva will look no less effective. At the moment, we are facing a difficult goal. It is necessary to provide the necessary level of sales of the real car, and for this purpose it is necessary to improve it and produce new versions. It is also necessary to develop a completely new model in a short period of time.
It is worth noting that the price lists of Niva question, still hanging in the air. It is expected that the off-road car will go up in price, as the U.S. company has violated the conditions for industrial assembly after its departure, and the state funds are not obliged to cover the paid waste charges. At least 12,000,000,000 rubles is required to complete the construction of the new production department, set up the equipment and produce the second generation of Chevrolet Niva. Mining them is a very difficult task. GEM-AutoVAZ personally cannot raise money for the loan, because the amount of the loan exceeds the competence of the general director of Jeffrey Glovera, moreover, such a transaction requires the approval of shareholders. Another owner of Bo Andersson shares, aka AutoVAZ, he hesitates to help his rival.
His doubts are clear, because at the moment a group of Togliatti engineers is working at full capacity on the next generation of all-wheel drive. Angie (NG) 4×4 Lada herself will appear in 2018, when Chevrolet – Niva – 2 is planned to be produced. It turns out that if today’s Niva gives an opportunity to the leading Russian car industry to increase its material condition, the new Niva may become an unnecessary competition.