Another icon of the 4×4 scene that has won many friends and still delights a loyal fan base today is in danger of disappearing. After 53 years, the end has come for Lada Deutschland GmbH. The importer is closing, the staff have to go. For the fans it means taking a deep breath, there are alternatives.
Small, but very capable off-road, that’s how we know the Lada Niva, 4×4, Taiga. It had several names over the decades in which it thrilled its fans. It wasn’t just there from the start when recreational 4×4 vehicles got going, it was even a trailblazer. There were problems and crises again and again. The German importer Lada Deutschland GmbH, run by Dieter Trzaska in Buxtehude, survived them all. But now it has become too much. The economic problems, caused by the Russian war against Ukraine and the economic sanctions that came with it, make it impossible for the importer to carry on.
The problems of Lada Deutschland GmbH added up
Lada Deutschland GmbH, which in many cases also modified the vehicles to customers’ wishes, already saw the first problems coming its way back in 2019. The Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ withdrew from Europe, as the emissions regulations could no longer be met. Through the clever exploitation of legal loopholes, it nevertheless carried on. Declared as a small series, by means of individual type approval and with injection systems sourced by Trzaska, which were first exported to Russia and re-imported with the vehicle, the vehicles could be registered in Germany.
Then came the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The import via grey channels and third countries, already very much hindered, almost collapsed. The result: in 2023, 33 new vehicles were still registered in Germany, in 2025 only three. That’s basically nothing compared with the years before, in which several thousand vehicles could be sold. On top of that, all the effort of getting the vehicles registered here pushed up the price. So what was basically an affordable off-roader became a more expensive pleasure. Euro 6d and 7 with the real-world driving tests could no longer be circumvented either.
At the end of 2025 Dieter Trzaska then ceased operations at the two locations Buxtehude and Neu Wulmstorf. The interim attempt to sell cheap electric SUVs from China, from manufacturers like Dayun, Joylong or Zhidou, failed too. In January 2026 preliminary insolvency administration was ordered. By the following March it was finally over. Ten employees lost their jobs.
What happens next?
Owners are now surely asking themselves where they’ll be able to get parts or whole vehicles in future? The parts website “lada24.de” is no longer online. There does seem to be one point of contact left, namely AET Handels GmbH in Müncheberg, which operates independently of Lada Deutschland GmbH. At AET, new vehicles can be configured and ordered that even still manage at least Euro 6e.
It’s unlikely that anyone else will take over the import given the difficulties.