Ford Focus: Ford Focus: To Russia with Love

"Benjamin Robinson" <tlh.fl.us> wrote
 

We have a low opinion of the Lada here in North America, but I think some of
that was cold war bias. From what I gather the Lada company has come a long
way since the fall of Communism, and is quite competitive in the world
market.

"Dave Gower" <ca> wrote in message
news:ca... 

Believe me, the low opinion is justifiable. About the only thing that you
can say in Lada's favour is that their cars are like cockroaches; you can't
kill them. But with such low tech, that's not surprising. I have a soft
spot for the old Lada's as I liked the Fiat 124 they are based on. Too bad
they didn't take over the Fiat twin-cam motor as well, instead they plopped
in their lump made out of melted down cooking pots. The Lada Niva is a
surprisingly competent off-roader, but don't have any pretenses about build
quality, comfort, or safety. The "newest" Ladas are still early 90's in
terms of tech and design. The design cycle for a typical Lada is about 8
years, more than double the industry standard, so as a car maker they are
still hopeless. Lada has made zero penetration into the European market
here, despite half-hearted efforts over the last 15 years since the wall
fell.

"Stephen F." <ch> wrote in message
news:41de3757$unibe.ch... 
some 
a 
can't 
bad 
plopped 
build 
we have them (Lada) here in Turkey. They are the cheapest cars on the
market...going for around $9K. the next cheapest car is the Dacia Logan
$11K and bare bone Fiat Palio ($13K). But both Lada and Dacia get very very
low market share..they sell very few. The cheapest Focus (1.4 liter) is
around $19K and it sells like hot cakes!

Ahmet

Turkey

'01 Focus Wagon 1.6 liter

Stephen F. <ch> wrote:
 

On the other hand, Soviet aesthetics seem to be exerting some influence
on the Daimler-Chrysler designers.