The war in Ukraine forced the plant to pause production due to a lack of parts.
Thanks to relaxed Russian regulations, production has resumed.
Back in June, we reported on a similar story where Lada has resumed production of its Granta sedan. The only way this was made possible was through relaxed Russian regulations concerning safety and emissions. The same thing has now happened with the Niva SUV.
The New 2022 Lada Granta Comes Without Airbags or ABS Brakes in Russia
The Russian invasion of Ukraine cut off numerous parts supply chains which meant that last March, production was halted. The missing parts included microchips, various braking parts, and more. In order to circumvent these “issues”, the Russian government has effectively backed off on most of these requirements.
We all still love the Niva if mostly for the fact that it is relatively unchanged since 1977. Even so, it did include ABS brakes, airbags, emission controls, seatbelt pre-tensioners, and other now-common must-have safety features. For the 2022 model year, they no longer have any of these elements.
According to Drive, and at the very least, the 2022 Niva has power steering, electric front windows, and the wiring harness for a two-speaker stereo, but no actual head unit.
If the Lada Niva wasn’t the safest small SUV on the road last year, it might be considered even worse now.
