High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Lada Niva or VAZ-2121 (Russian: Лада Нива, Niva (нива) is the Russian word for "crop field") is an off-road vehicle built by Soviet/Russian automaker AvtoVAZ. The car is very popular in its home country. It is also popular in Canada (though withdrawn from sale in 1998), South America, Europe, and other regions where the terrain requires a robust and tough car for a reasonable price. In Australia, popularity is limited as the vehicle is manufactured for a very different climate and as such items such as air conditioning were omitted from the specifications, limiting its appeal.