Lada Gets Stylish at Last!

OAO AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest carmaker, stunned the Moscow auto show this week with its most stylish vehicle in decades, the Lada Xray crossover concept.

AvtoVAZ says it has no plans to build the Xray. But the company says the concept's styling, including its X-shaped grille design, will show up in Lada production vehicles by about 2015.

The Xray's design was led by Steve Mattin, who quit as chief designer at Volvo Cars in 2009 and now holds the same title at AvtoVAZ. Before joining Volvo, Mattin spent 17 years at Mercedes-Benz, where he helped develop most of that company's top-end luxury models.