AvtoVAZ unveils new Lada Granta, Vladimir Putin takes a ride

TOGLIATTI, Russia - Vladimir Putin enjoyed a brief test drive in the new Lada Granta which was unveiled on Wednesday in Togliatti.

Lada Granta, which will be priced between RUB 220,000 and RUB 300,000 will initially be replacing the popular Kalina sedan. Later on this car will also serve as a replacement for the ancient rear-wheel-drive Lada 2107 aka "classic" and the front-wheel-drive Samara family.

AvtoVAZ plans to produce up to 400,000 Granta models a year. It was developed with assistance from Renault and will benefit from the experience of Western suppliers, like Eberspaecher, Faurecia and Johnson Controls, which will be supplying the Granta.

Further technical details will be released closer to the commercial launch which will happen before the end of this year.