LADA, from communist upbringing to corporate giant, the new face of Russian cars starts here.

LADA has proven to be a brand that will not be beaten down, regardless of who owns the company or the political atmosphere in its home country of Russia, and and in it's surrounding countries.

At this years Moscow Motor Show, LADA has given the world a look at what they are prepared to do to counter act the increasing growth of imports and the growth of brands that are building plants in and around the Baltic states.

Since LADA's owner AutoVAZ was taken control by the Renault-Nissan alliance, the quality of the products have improved hand over fist, and the days of poor quality and reliability are now long gone, instead we have better looking products, more modern underpinnings, better engines and far superior interiors, all of which are helping LADA to beat off the ever increasing competition.

Russia today, in terms of its motor industry, can be classed as a companion to the United Kingdom of the 1960's and 1970's, both had home grown motor industries that had the lions share of the sales, and like the UK car industry, Russia is suffering from imports that undercut, or offer better quality products for the money, however, whereas the UK failed to counter act this, LADA is fighting back with a vengeance, The Granta, Kalina and Largus are the start, with the Largus being a re badged Dacia.

The world has become used to the LADA brand again, with its, not very successful, entry to the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the Granta, is a pretty car, that has given LADA a glimpse of a great future, long gone are the days of re hashed Fiat 128 cast offs, and today we have a range of cars that are getting better with each new model.

That brings us nicely to the latest concepts launched at the 2014 Moscow show, three distinct models, firstly the LADA Vesta, a B/C platform sedan car that will take over where the Granta finishes, then there will be the Vesta WTCC, this model should be a vast improvement on the current Granta WTCC, and with Rob Huff and James Thompson definitely driving for LADA, the driving quality should at last be matched with vehicle quality.

Lastly there will be the LADA X-Ray, this model is another Dacia, well, under the skin it is the Sandero Stepway, so the concept at least gives you an idea of the size, and in my opinion it looks far superior to the Dacia it is hived off from.

No car company these days is complete without an SUV, and LADA still has the NIVA of old, this model has been around for decades, yet still sells well,  but its quality is far from the best, and it is models like this that will keep LADA from really competing with the best that Europe and world has to offer, not only do they have these new concepts, they will be launching later in the year a Cross version of the Largus and Kalina, so pushing models into another niche area, which is what the need to do to get sales from all area's.

So, will it succeed, ultimately, yes, the government will make it succeed, possibly with import taxation increases, and allowances for buying home grown products, either way, with the help of the French and Japanese owners, LADA will go from strength to strength, along with new products, expanded markets and favourable political interference, LADA should do well.

However, there is one rather large stumbling block for LADA, and that's with sister company Dacia, the Romanian company is better know in Europe with a base price product, would it be feasible for LADA to enter new territories where Dacia already is, with a second budget brand, or will it;s entry cause Dacia sales to drop, most brands have a cheap offshoot, VW, they are developing, one, GM has Chevy, but Renault-Nissan has three, Datsun, LADA and Dacia, is it really acceptable corporate wise to have three very cheap brands, competing, eventually, in the same markets.

Datsun has only just been relaunched, and they have two models, Dacia has a full range like LADA, only time will tell if they can all work happily together, or will it be a case of the two stronger brands will survive and the third laid to rest, again, I for one, would love to see LADA back in the United Kingdom, it was a reasonably successful brand here, but like Skoda, of that era, it has left a bad taste, the cars would be rusty before you left the forecourt, and would be worth nothing by the time you got them home, but they had a loyal following and the Samara was a nice car, unlike the Riva and Niva.

Good luck to LADA, I look forward to seeing the new Vesta racing at the top in the WTCC, and with any luck, a return to the UK would be a nice idea, if, impractical.

JON MOWER