Turkmenistan 2010: Camry and Lada kings of the road

Two cars have been dominating the Turkmen market for many years now: the Toyota Camry (starting with the 1996 generation) and the Lada 2105. These two models add up to almost half the cars in circulation in the capital city Ashgabat.

More street scenes and street video below.

USSR/Russia 1986-1995: Lada 2104-7 and Samara dominate

Lada Samara

A second very popular Lada model appeared on the Soviet Union’s roads in 1984: the Lada Sputnik, better known worldwide as Samara. The 3-door hatchback was launched in 1984, followed by the 5-door hatchback in 1987 and the sedan in 1990.

In all likeliness, the Samara should feature along the Lada 2104/5/7 on top of  the car sales ranking of the USSR from 1986 to 1991, Russia from 1992 to 1995. I couldn’t find any official figures for this period so if you have any please do get in touch! More info on the Lada Samara here.

Lada 2105

Pictures: www.autonavigator.ru

USSR 1980-1985: Lada 2104-7 likely leader

Lada 2105

Lada launches the 2105 in 1979, basically a restyled 2101. Despite the absence of official sales figures it is easy to imagine that the more modern 2105 would lead car sales in the Soviet Union during the first half of the eighties.

The traditional Deluxe version, named 2107, is added in 1982 and the Station Wagon, 2104, appears in 1984. More info on the Lada 2105 series here.

Lada 2104

Pictures: www.autonavigator.ru

USSR 1970-1979: Lada 2101-3 conquers the Soviet roads

Lada 2101

The brand VAZ (Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod), better known worldwide as Lada, was established in the late 1960’s in collaboration with Fiat and started producing the 2101, a localised version of the Fiat 124, in 1979.

Even though there are no official figures available, the Lada 2101 in all likeliness dominated car sales in the USSR throughout the seventies. In 1972 the 2102, a Station Wagon, and the 2103, a Deluxe version, are added, reinforcing the domination of the model on the Soviet roads.  More info on the Lada 2101 series here.

Please get in touch if you have any data relating to this period!

Lada 2102

Lada 2103

Pictures: www.autonavigator.ru