Russian Return?

Could Lada be about to make a return to Western Europe? The famous(ly bad) Russian car company was last seen round these parts trying to sell the Samara hatchback (above) and the Cossack off-roader, but it faded away in a fog of bad cars and worse jokes.

But although we haven't seen Ladas in Ireland for a while, the company is far from finsihed. In fact it's a roaring success, building over 700,000 vehicles a year and, more crucially, it's just signed two interesting co-operation agreements.

First up is an all-new c-segment hatchback, designed and built in conjunction with Magna-Steyr, an Austrian company that you may never have heard of, but without whom there would be no right-hand-drive Chryslers or Jeeps, and no new Fiat Bravo either.

Even more significantly, Lada has also signed an agreement to build Lada-badged versions of Chevrolet's new Captiva 4x4, and while that car may have been engineered in Korea, it's no cheap hack; the same bits will also make the new Opel Antara and possibly a small Saab 4x4. So is it impossible that RHD Ladas may soon make a return to Ireland? Don't bet against it...