Lada's XRAY vision

Authentic automotive designs that stand out from the generic crowd are rare these days, but that’s exactly what Lada has produced with this funky XRAY Concept.

Revealed at the 16th annual Moscow International Auto Show this week, the appropriately named XRAY is a compact three-door SUV concept featuring heavily stylised wheel-arch depressions (rather than flares) and an X-shaped front bumper/grille/headlight treatment, giving it a completely unique look.

Lada stressed that the XRAY, which also features a futuristic four-door cabin trimmed with tasteful two-tone brown leather, is just for show and is not destined for production, but says its unique design language previews an all-new family look for future Lada models.

The XRAY is the work of former Mercedes-Benz and Volvo designer, Englishman Steve Mattin, who told Car Design News that Lada was set for big things.

“It's got a fairly long heritage and is a key player in the Russian market,” said Mr Mattin, who designed the 1997 A-Class and current XC60 before becoming the new AvtoVAZ design chief.

“It's an interesting time," he said.

Lada, which owns a dominant 40 per cent share of the Russian auto market, is the sole vehicle brand of AvtoVAZ, in which Renault purchased a 25 per cent stake in March 2008 as part of a $US1 billion deal.

The remaining 75 per cent of AvtoVAZ is still owned by the Russian state-owned Rostekhnologia corporation, and Lada is now part of the Renault-Nissan-Lada group - the world's third-largest automotive group after General Motors and Toyota.

Some reports suggest the Nissan Juke-sized XRAY previews a new design that will first appear on the replacement for Lada’s long-running Priora in 2015.

AvtoVAZ announced in April that it will cease production of the Lada 2107 sedan, which has been one of Russia’s biggest selling models for more than 40 years.

Lada is most famous in Australia for the Niva compact 4WD, which introduced the brand here in 1984 and was joined in 1988 by the Samara-based Cevaro hatch and Sable sedan before slow sales finally ground to a halt in1996.

AutoVAZ also used this week’s Moscow show to unveil an electric vehicle based on the Lada Kalina and called the El Lada, which it said can travel up to 150km before recharging.

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