Back To Moscow

I have been away from Moscow for the New Year and Bayram holidays...now back to blogging.

Some of the readers have found my attitude to the Lada brand as being prejudiced and far from reflecting the truth. Actually, I don't agree with them; since I have personally driven a Lada both in Turkey and Russia and have a couple of (unfortunate) friends who own one. So I still think that i am pretty unbiased though...

One of the key points of our outrageous behaviour to this brand comes from its untiring resistance to change its styling and technology. It can be clearly understood that these factors mean close to nothing in a socialist system, where nobody cared for the design and ergonomy, assured that they own something that can move itself without eating grass...but
those times are over for more than 15 years (meaning that the children born with their pregnant mothers watching the Berlin Wall torn down, have already reached their adolescence).

So came the Market Economy, with a lot of second hand BMWs and Opels to roam the once roads of eternal socialism and friendship of peoples. Nobody would have guessed that those roads would become the roads of eternal apartheid and hatred of others...Lada (like most of the old soviet brands) must have changed and adapted to the new influx of competitors. But it seems that they haven't yet woken up from their century old insobriety. The "newly" introduced models clearly reflect this marketing breakthrough: We make bad cars..but they are cheap.

This is the point that I somehow agree with Lada Marketing Team. The factories are outdated, no more funds for R&D, no subtle know-how for some niche markets...and a lot of superior competitors for the ever-hungry russian automobile market. They must have carved out a SWOT analysis and decided to focus on what they do best for decades: Making Cars for Masses.

A lot of voyages deep inside Russia and a quick glance to macroeconomic tables has given me an idea about what Russia is really like. It is not the shiny and glamorous Moscow...it is still struggling to gasp out of the rusty soviet rubble...and those people still need a car (that can move without eating grass) and an old friend, Lada, comes to the rescue....Nice job indeeed.

As a conclusion, I can find some lucrative business policies in Lada but I am still craving to find something ironical and synical about the brand. So here is the deal:


Introducing the newest Lada Riskha. Your companion for the Russian Winter.

Do i need to say anything more???