Exclusive Yet Elusive: The Lada X-Cross 5 Saga - A Tale of 170 Unicorns

Lada X-Cross 5 – the crossover that could’ve, should’ve, but ultimately didn’t. Assembled with great promise at the St. Petersburg site of AvtoVAZ, this vehicle is now a rare collector’s item, but not for reasons you might think. According to the ever-reliable whispers of the “Avtopotok” Telegram channel, citing those elusive ‘inside sources’, this automotive marvel is officially off the market after a grand total of 170 units rolled off the assembly line. Yes, you heard it right – only 170!

Maxim Sokolov, the big boss at AvtoVAZ, proudly confirmed this number recently. Apparently, a fraction of these crossovers found their way into the hands of corporate clients, while the rest were shipped off to Togliatti. And guess what? One of these automotive unicorns is now the personal steed of the head honcho himself.

Insider gossip has it that out of this exclusive batch, a whopping 50 cars were sold in Moscow. The rest? They’ve been sent to AvtoVAZ, where 60 will join the company’s fleet. The reasons for pulling the plug on this project remain shrouded in mystery, but unconfirmed reports hint at some hiccups in negotiations with FAW over certain localization nuances of the model.

At a recent press conference, Sokolov declared, with a straight face, that the development of licensed projects would continue. Brace yourselves for this year, as several models in the C- and D-segments are expected to make a debut, possibly under a brand new brand. But let’s not hold our breath for the details just yet.

The assembly of the Lada X-Cross 5 (a rebranded FAW Bestune T77), started last summer at the St. Petersburg site, formerly owned by Nissan. The launch of this crossover was postponed more times than we care to count, and towards the end of the year, any mention of the model mysteriously vanished from the Lada website. Officially, this was chalked up to ‘technical works’, but the X-Cross 5 banner hasn’t made a comeback to the site. Maybe it’s just enjoying an extended vacation?