The cheap and cheerful Lada Niva off-roader could make a comeback on British roads, but wearing a very different badge, reports the Interchange agency today. It might be a Daewoo, or might it be a Chevy. The new Niva has been developed and built by a joint venture between Avtovaz, which makes Ladas, and General Motors.

It went on sale at the end of last year in Russia with a Chevrolet badge boasting all the latest technology and quality standards far exceeding those of the old model last sold in the UK in the early 1990s. Currently it is only being sold in its home country.

The Niva is currently equipped with a Russian-built 1.7-litre engine, but engineers are working on putting Opel's 1.8-litre engine under the bonnet ready to go on the market in Europe and elsewhere, though exports are unlikely for at least another year while GM/Avtovaz marketing people look at where they want to sell it - Britain included.

It is known that GM is planning to use the Daewoo badge - it bought the troubled South Korean company last year - in countries where Chevrolet is not represented or well-known. The plan is to build 100,000 Nivas a year in Russia with half of these going for export. That export price will be interesting. In Russia, the new Niva sells for less than the equivalent of £6,000.