The launch of Lada Riva / Lada Signet in Soviet Union (USSR) 1980

On May 14, 1980, series production of the VAZ-2105 car began, they were produced by the Volga Automobile Factory (VAZ), whose models and brand were known in the Soviet Union under the name "Zhiguli", in honor of the hills that surround the region in which the factory was built. The VAZ-2105, as well as the other models of the factory, were exported to several countries with different names, such as Lada Riva (in Europe), Lada Signet (in Canada), and, finally, from the end of 1990 to 1995, sold under the name of Lada Laika in Brazil.

Inserted in the context of the launch of this new model, this documentary film, translated by us from the channel "Avtoexport USSR", constitutes a great opportunity, almost practical, to better understand the mechanism of production and launch of new models in a recognized planned economy. Which organizations were involved in this modernization process, were they of central initiative, or of the factory itself? How were technical innovations seen within an economy like this? What objectives they pursued with new developments? Or, how was the relationship between the various employees of this factory? These questions are partially answered by looking closely at this documentary.

At first, we can see a focus of the documentary on the problems and difficulties that arise in the launch of a new model, mainly in relation to the initial costs and profitability of production, which in the case of this factory did not seem to increase with the new model available. In such a circumstance, a question may remain open about how the price system in the USSR would provide incentives or not to these innovations, since this is not purely based on the rules already known, but theoretically supported by other "pricing methods", supported or not in the labor theory of value. However, innovations, despite being initially problematic, throughout the documentary are slowly being justified, through the competition of the "Techno-Scientific Revolution", as well as through the economy and security provided in new models. At the Party Committee meeting, it's clear that there was some problems in the relationship between VAZ and GOSPLAN, especially with regard to the capital used for the creation of infrastructure, modernization of production. The possibility of studying the concepts used during the documentary is also an important means of investigation, and through this, one of the perceptions is in relation to a certain distance between the administration and that "working class", denounced by the documentary itself, which defends greater integration between the two parties.

Finally, with a production of approximately 750 thousand cars per year and a thermal power plant, the Lada factory was considered for a long time to be the largest automobile factory in the world, and therefore one of the initial possibilities for understanding the planned Soviet economy, its system of prices, and the causes of its competitive stagnation.

Видео The launch of Lada Riva / Lada Signet in Soviet Union (USSR) 1980 канала Автоэкспорт СССР