1993: The V sub-brand then added the 45 and the 55 to their performance line-up, but the main brand is still struggling with their finances. The brand is also planning to revive the Series 105 in 1996 (which never happened, because the company wasn't able to finish the concept car thanks to their bankruptcy in 1995). They also premiered the Kraken Concept, which was a 2+2 roadster inspired by the Opel GT and was targeted against the XJS. Unlike the planned Series 105 revival, the Kraken did go into production (but it didn't last for long).
(A bankruptcy is not much of an option; the brand is bankrolled by General Motors). 1995: The Kraken concept finally materializes as the new Series 75, a high-performance roadster/coupe, which shifted its focus from "Series 55 with bigger backseat" to "Ferrari 456 GT rival". However, the bubble had burst: all luxury brands were showing losses by 1995, and Mazda filed for bankruptcy, while Ford and Chrysler were selling their luxury assets at firesale prices. GM executives made a hard decision: no new models for LaSalle. The money would instead be spent on making cars that could go head-to-head with the best, as well as working on GM's new purchase: Lada (which made Chrysler buy Poland's FSO). Well, this nicely puts us at: Lada: 1995: General Motors buy Lada, seeing hope for cheap cars. After the purchase, they immediately start working on making the Niva, 2110-series and Samara meet US standards.
1998: The Niva gets a new generation, competing against the Defender and 4x4 vehicles similar to the Niva. The Niva was later sold in the US as the Chevrolet Niva (different than the RL Chevrolet Niva).
1999: The new Lada Niva gets introduced stateside as a cheap Wrangler alternative, while work continues on a car that would be bigger than the 2110-series and fight against cars like the Daewoo Nubira.
2001: The planned vehicle later became the Lada Bridlewood (lasted until 2006, succeeded by the Priora). The Niva is also now sold in China as the Buick Signia (named after the concept car from 1998), and in Canada as a Pontiac Niva.
2002: Lada launches new subcompact, the Kalina, built on the same platform as Opel Corsa C platform. New Kalina was sold in US as Pontiac Kalina, in China as Buick Sail II (from 2005) and in Europe it was marketed as 'Cheaper, but not less quality.' and 'Lada Kalina, the great investment.' Available body styles was 5-door hatchback, 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon, and special pickup version, made by VAZ's company VIS.
2004: The Samara now has a new generation, commonly referred as the Samara II, which was a big hit in Russia, USA (as a Saturn), Canada (as a Pontiac), China (as a Chevrolet), and now was sold in Mexico (also as a Chevrolet). The Niva then got a refresh, the major differences being the technology in the interior and a redesigned front end.
2005: Lada shows the new Classic Concept, D-segment sedan, with many design influences from older Ladas (2103, 2101 and 2103 mainly) on Moscow Car Show. Many of its design solutions would be used on future Ladas.
2006: The Bridlewood is now discontinued, and the Niva's sister (the Lada Sten) released in late June. It wasn't sold outside of Europe until next year.
2007: The Bridlewood gets a successor, inspired by the Classic concept. It get quite popular as a mix of upmarket retro style and good prices. Also, the Largus, a cheap midszie van, gets released and gains popularity among contractors worldwide.
2008: The Sten is now released internationally outside of Europe, and sales for it increase drastically. Lada also decides to release another concept car, the Gorky. The Gorky concept car is a flat-nose semi truck targeted against commercial vehicles like the Isuzu Forward, and a diesel V6 standard with the truck. Lada also establishes a new assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan to continue production of their US models.
2010: A new Lada Niva generation is released, though the previous two stay in production. It becomes an endearing proposition in the youth market, being a now more road-oriented crossover.
2011: The production Gorky was confirmed as the first US-assembled Lada in history. The Gorky was a big hit for the commercial trucks market, on par with Scania. Lada was then tasked with making a brand new presidential limousine for the Russian president. The vehicle was code-named Vladmir, and it took them 18 months before it was finally complete for the president. (made a small fix)
2012: After a long career on the market, the Kalina and Samara get new generations, though the previous ones stay on sale in developing markets.
2013: The new presidential vehicle is now released for Putin, and he accepted the vehicle. (He owned it for a few years until the introduction of the Aunus Senat) Also, the Priora and Sten received it's first facelift.
2015: The Granta, a compact minivan, and the minicar Neva both get released. They bring good sales, but relatively low profits.
2018: The Priora and the Niva goes into a new generation, the Sten received it's second refresh, and the Granta + Neva receive their first facelift. Lada also now has a assembly plant in China and Canada. Acura: 1992: Acura premiered their rebadge of the first gen Domani the same year as the Acura Vigor debuted in North America. The Acura Domani would later become the EL, and then the ELX. Acura also finally established headquarters in the US, specifically in Ithaca, NY.
1994: Acura introduces its first SUV, the TDX, essentially the rebadged Land Rover Discovery (Honda Crossroad). Also, they opened new plant in Morgantown, West Virginia, with annual capacity of 450K cars.
1995: Acura decides to discontinue the Vigor due to poor sales (along with Honda in the same year), and later adds the SLX (which is a Isuzu Trooper rebadge) to their SUV line-up.
1996: The Legend's 3rd generation gets renamed RL, and the Vigor gets a more "Americanized" successor, a rebodied, longer Accord sedan/coupe - the NL/CL.
