The first badges from Tolyatti carried a silver boat and the city's name, and some early trial pieces misprinted that name with a backwards letter. Today those badges are collectors' pieces.
- Country
-
Russia - Active
- Since 1966
- Website
- Official website ↗
A car city on the Volga
Lada’s story begins with a government decree. On 20 July 1966 the Soviet government signed off on a new car plant in Tolyatti, a city on the Volga that had been called Stavropol-on-Volga until 1964. The plant was built to make a car based on the Fiat 124, but the Soviet engineers changed it so thoroughly that more than 800 alterations went into the design.
On 19 April 1970 the first six cars rolled off the main assembly line. AvtoVAZ still marks that date as the Day of the First Car. At home the new model was called Zhiguli, after the hills near Tolyatti, a name proposed by a designer named Cherny.
Why Zhiguli had to go abroad as Lada
Zhiguli worked in Russia. Abroad it didn’t. Foreign buyers struggled to pronounce it, and in some languages it sounded uncomfortably close to the word gigolo. So export cars needed another name, and from 1973 they were sold as Lada: short, simple, and easy to say anywhere.
For three decades the two names lived side by side. Then in 2004 AvtoVAZ moved every model onto the Lada brand, written in Latin letters even on the Russian market. The old VAZ-2105 became the Lada 2105, for example.
A boat with a letter for a sail
The badge is a ladya, a traditional Russian sailing boat. According to the Russian motoring magazine 5 Koleso, the first Zhiguli carried a silver boat in which a stylised letter В, the Cyrillic V, stands for VAZ, while the boat itself is a symbol of movement. It’s a neat fit for a factory on one of Russia’s great rivers.
Early badges also carried the word Тольятти, Togliatti, beneath the boat. Some of the very first trial badges got it wrong: the final letter Я was printed back to front as a Latin R. Today those badges are collectors’ pieces.
You will often hear that the name Lada comes from ladya, the boat on the badge. It’s a popular explanation, but the sources checked for this page only describe Lada as a new, short name chosen for export, without tying it to the boat.
The 2015 makeover
On 1 April 2015 AvtoVAZ presented a refreshed badge at a motor show in St Petersburg. It was drawn by AvtoVAZ’s own designers and introduced by design director Steve Mattin. The idea didn’t change: it is still a longboat in an oval. What changed was the style. Mattin said the emblem had become three-dimensional, with clearly defined, structured forms and dynamic lines that continued the design language of the Vesta and XRAY. The Vesta was the first production model to wear it.
From the Kopeyka to the Vesta
The first Zhiguli already showed the recipe: a Fiat underneath, but with a strengthened body, more ground clearance and drum brakes at the back to keep out dirt and dust.
Landmark Ladas, decade by decade
- 1970: VAZ-2101 Zhiguli. The first model from Tolyatti, based on the Fiat 124.
- 1973: VAZ-2103. The plant’s millionth car.
- 2004: Kalina. The first car of the Kalina family came off the line this year.
- 2007: Priora. The first of a family of Russian C-class cars.
- 2015: Vesta. The first production Lada to carry the restyled longboat badge.
Lada’s links to the West run deep. It started with Fiat, and later Renault held a controlling stake of nearly 68% in AvtoVAZ until it sold it in 2022. For other cars from the Soviet era, see GAZ, UAZ and ZAZ, or browse more classic car logos.
Frequently asked questions
What is on the Lada logo?
A ladya, a traditional Russian sailing boat, inside an oval. On the original badge a stylised letter В, for VAZ, was worked into the boat.
Why are Ladas also called Zhiguli?
Zhiguli was the original Soviet name, taken from the hills near Tolyatti. It was hard for foreign buyers to pronounce, so export cars were sold as Lada from 1973. In 2004 all models moved to the Lada name.
When did the Lada logo last change?
AvtoVAZ presented a restyled badge on 1 April 2015. It kept the longboat in an oval but became three-dimensional, and the Vesta was the first model to wear it.
Where are Ladas made?
The brand’s home is the AvtoVAZ plant in Tolyatti, on the Volga, where the first cars were built in April 1970.
The longboat logbook
- Founded
- 1966
- Country
- Russia
- Headquarters
- Tolyatti, Russia
- Parent company
- AvtoVAZ
- Current emblem
- A stylised longboat (ladya) in an oval, restyled in three dimensions in 2015
- Known for
- The Zhiguli and the Niva
- Website
- Official website ↗
