  the lada niva or vaz-2121 (; niva (Ð½Ð¸Ð²Ð°) is the russian word for "crop field") is an off-road vehicle produced by the russian (former soviet) manufacturer avtovaz. it was also marketed as the lada sport in iceland, lada taiga in austria, bognor diva in uruguay, the lada cossack in britain,thompson, andy. cars of the soviet union (haynes publishing, somerset, uk, 2008), p.239 caption. and is offered since 2009 on most markets as the lada 4x4. it was one of the first mass production off-road vehicles to feature a unibody architecture, independent front suspension and coil suspension, and is a predecessor to current crossover suvs which nearly all follow this format; it inspired the suzuki vitara.thompson, p.238. pickup and emergency van versions are produced by vazinterservice. a notable niva buyer in may 2009 was russia's then-premier vladimir putin.[http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/2419246/putin-flaunts-new-lada-niva putin flaunts new lada ni
All-wheel-drive_vehicles Cars_of_Russia Lada_vehicles Mini_sport_utility_vehicles Off-road_vehicles Soviet_automobiles Vehicles_introduced_in_1977