UPDATE: The CM8 has been launched in Malaysia as the Chana Era CM8, the cheapest 7-seater in Malaysia with a price tag starting from under RM40k.
ChangAn Auto Group, based in Chongqing, China has completed negotiations with a Malaysian company to build it’s ChangAn CM8 here in Malaysia. An agreement was signed this week on investing and building an assembly plant for the vehicle. ChangAn Auto is the fourth-largest producer of automobiles in China as of 2005.
ChangAn Auto classifies the CM8 as an MPW. In their own words, “MP” stands for multipurpose while “W” represents agility and space. I think W is supposed to be Wagon?
The car is powered by either a 1.3 (80hp at 6000rpm, 102Nm at 4500rpm) or 1.6 engine (96hp at 6000rpm, 135Nm at 3000rpm), which should prove to be economical, something in the Toyota Avanza class of vehicle.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Jesus christ…why do they even bother..
donno why… but dis mpv look "cacat"… wheel base, chasis, height doesnt seem right…
it seems to tall for its width
LoL damn cute, it looked like the cartoon version of Avanza, APV. Damn funny… its like Lamborghini looking like :
[IMG
0 
0
freak! freak! freak! freak! freak!
god! is malaysia becoming a dumping ground for worthless crap…?
great meter clusters
styling is a bit funky…but quality wise….will it suffer from premature ageing? cant comment yet about that
yeah. enough of these rubbish. we want proper quality cars. not reverse-engineered crap. at least do a market survey first.
Juara version II hehe
juara is more handsome than this car..
for a moment i though the photo was over-stretched…
first glance reminds me of A class, i like the meter cluster, nice arrangement, besides that, dun even wanna waste my breathe on it.
sideview like estima+innova, front like sang kancil (kecut), thn like suzuka apv… damn china memang bulih like M'sia
avnza+ERV=ChangAn CM8…………………. one word 2 describe, ahak ahak ahak ahak…….. i prefer JUARA, more stable…….
hahahaha..dont even bother to get one..try corner it on 50-60km/h i bet that thing will surely flip over…roflmao
ugly face, definitely.
and people say Juara suck……….
meet the cousin……hehehe
Jeremy Clarkson should annihilates this car…
Jeremy Clarkson should annihilate him self, and his car with him in it. Humiliation i say.
If your driving a kelisa, and saw this, you got to live with the image of your car being hung and blasted to hell.
lucky i drive a wira, no annihilation video on that i suppose. I can sleep soundly.
it make juara look nice…
Dear Malaysian…… for those u guys still think P1 n P2 is lousy……..
Pls do consider these Model… is much cheaper then our own P1 n P2……
P1… is time to wake up…. P2…. keep it up give us more newer models….
may be selling at killing price of rm35k!
WELCOME..WELCOME….More China make pls….
Give pressure to our local G. P1, P2, P3, P4 sure will feel the heat.
Price war coming. WTO will pressure G, so they would not implement "new tax".
HO HO HO… merry xmas..!
Cant wait for year 2011
hehehehe…. dddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmnnnnn ugly! like pig!
look like a 4 wheeler panda. jeremy will surely get shcizo when seeing this.
YUCKKK!! Mutated Avanza!!! Really stupid fools will buy this chapalang China cars!! Jeremey Clarkson, another shot on crane please hahahahaha!!!
Horrible, Horrible, Horrible. Would look slightly better with bigger wheels perhaps.
paul usually post some good quality images here. Donno why this time the photos of the car exterior is vertically stretched…:)
ouch! innova looks better than that "MPW". at least, the car is not a copied version of japanese SUV and MPV. whateveeeeeer.
it's not stretched lah!
Everybody must remember that 5 years ago in Time Mag, it said that P1
has the most potential to grow. And they compared P1 with Hyundai.
So…..wake up P1, just ditch the lousy and high pricing vendors.
Hmm.. China make again, how many more coming, Paul?
looks like cars used for police in ultraman series…hehehhehe…if the quality is good, then I dont mind…but let see, how is their marketing strategy, but 1 thing for sure, all Msian has a very high taste in design and quality…
I wont be suprised if only 50 unit sold used for pasar malam van or etc…
design wise…Msian I would say 80% will not buy it…
merry Xmas to all…
kakakakkakakakaka lawak siut!
this errr..thing…if corner baring…will tumble over not?….
its dimension…weird…not balance…
trust me, if the price is wright and it will sell like pisang goreng. hate it? but that had happened.
To 4G63T,
“We critizise the Chinese maker for copying, yet we STILL make the Saga and Wira, which in effect is a direct copy of thier mitsu counterparts…..for the past 20 years.”
>>>
In all fairness, Malaysian carmakers/assemblers pay a huge amount of royalty for the manufacturing rights of the cars. Chinese ‘carmakers’ like Chery only engage themselves in the act of plagiarism which is downright piracy as in the case of QQ and others.”
“To be frank, automotive technology hasn’t changed that much in the past 50 years. Most of the changes are in the form of gadjets. Yes, safety has gone up, reliability has gone up, and efficiency has gone up, but the core tech. itself hasn’t changed much. All the automakers can ultimately be guilty of “copying†someone’s else idea. Its no different.”
>>>
Yes, the core working principles are the same. Building on to your statement, this is exactly the way the world works. Take for example, Coca Cola v Pepsi Cola, McD v Burger King, Microsoft Windows v Mac OS, IBM v Apple, Boeing v Airbus, IPaq v Palm, Intel v AMD, Levi v Lee, Panasonic v Sony, Tesco v Walmart, MAS v SIA, Nike v Adidas and the list goes on….. Product designers can, at any time, design radical stuffs. However, the general consumers will not be ready to accept the radical changes immediately.
like a pig shape.. really.. erkk…!
Aiyoh! apa ini?
oh no….plz no….for god sake NOOOO!! paul for the luv of god,no more news abt china cars plz!
you think this model cheaper p1 and p2 ah? never be loh… the price will be the same price range between them…
the MPW? what is '"w" anyway? not like a wagon to me…
yea lor… when is the new Kembara and new Kancil will come out??
malaysia has become a dumping ground for the useless, copycat…pethatic moron automaker…..(sigh)..
merry xmas…….
Good.
Wonky styling though. Not a vehicle I would buy but then again, if priced cheaply, I'm sure people will find something to like about it. I'm pro consumer, so anything thats gives consumers more choices or stimulates competition is a good thing.
Here goes Epalhead bashing another automaker. Copy cat or not, very soon if not already, they would surpass P1. P1 is getting more desperate by the day. Its entirely up to P1 whether they would take drastic steps to cut "costs", make better cars to win back confidence, or die.
China is following in the footsteps of the Korean and the Japanese before them. The Koreans and Japanese were subject to the same criticisms when they started making cars. "Cheap, tin can, copy cat" products. Now, The Koreans are 5 years behind the Japanese (about 1/2 to 1 model year behind), the Chinese about 5-10years from the Koreans and catching up fast.
We critizise the Chinese maker for copying, yet we STILL make the Saga and Wira, which in effect is a direct copy of thier mitsu counterparts…..for the past 20 years.
To be frank, automotive technology hasn't changed that much in the past 50 years. Most of the changes are in the form of gadjets. Yes, safety has gone up, reliability has gone up, and efficiency has gone up, but the core tech. itself hasn't changed much. All the automakers can ultimately be guilty of "copying" someone's else idea. Its no different.
will somebdy ask mr jeremy to come and hav a look?at least we could have another terrifiying video clip for the christmas.
I only prefer oriental car from Japan….not frm China, Korea…
LOL LMFAO!!!! it reli makes my day, laffing non-stop!! maybe it can be sale in this boleh land?? There are still some dungku exist here, who knows?
what the blue heaven is that?! design looked sooo weird
but this one the rear door slides open like a luxury MPV style…
but if it is cheap, there will be buyer
better than our Juara lah….
a piece of crap from the land of piracy! is the car safe to drive???seen too tall and thin.last time Merc came out the A-class reported not stable during cornering and yet this crap taller and thinner than A-class.any one?
I think it looks worse than the Toyota Avanza ;p
me..bashing "another" automaker???
4G63, tell me which one….i'm lost here.
merry xmas to u dude!
when i 1st saw the picture, i thought the photo was shrunken , but i was surprised that .. that is how the van actually looks… im happier with a juara.
like pig+panda+badak air+tenuk+cipan hahahahaha,better dump these in one of our tropical rain forest
Hard corner at 70km/h and above sure tumbang.
one of the ugliest things on earth
Check out the pic!
WAHAHAHAHAHA
http://www.changan.com.cn/20050425/1114417442352….
China is conquering Malaysia with cheap and "quality" products….
this is so cool
Well.. at least this proves NAP works.. (BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!)
attracted all these china mali cars in here… i wonder how would the quality be like? gosh… we already have enough proton and korean car bashing, now we're gonna have china car bashing???
I thought this ChangAn AM8 so nice and sytlish van!
all of you blind!
don't talk about Juara and Kenari! both are casket and bread vehicle!
are u blind, this car cannot handle hard turn at all..very slim car..
It does look better than Juara though. Juara looked more funky ….. or fugly.
OMG! I will choose to buy a proton anytime than to buy this. It makes the juara, savvy and chancellor look so damn nice. And how will the safety be? Let me guess………0 star.
we can see the benefits of the NAp already.
only cars tat suck more than P1 will be allowed here…
our neighbours will be laughing at us la.
Very ugly. Cheaplah but can last or not!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeyeeeeeee…what's that?a car or..a tool box!!
My goodness.. Is it a 7 seater (can't really tell from the photo)? What on earth r they thinking, to bring in such an utterly disgraceful ugly looking car. Small wheel base, high center of gravity, awkward face. And yet trying to fit 7 people in it. But trust me… these are all political games. Tell me who dont wanna 'befriend' with China nowadays??
Yup… It is 7 seater.
look like Avanza "compress" version for me. too ugly…bwahahahah
it look a bit unstable but generally i like the car design better than juara and rusa..
kawan, if cannot sell, they'll just take it off the market… they wont lobby the government to force old cars into consumer's throat…
Wah… more Chinese cars…. I like… haha..!!
ha. at less better then juara n rusa i think.
dont bluff your self!.no wonder this minority r stupid is a faith.
u know it better then our juara n rusa i think!.
hoo ,,…hoo marry x mas …!!.
yeah…all u people thinks that it's stupid for malaysia to be involve with china car makers, to be dealing with china. but in my opinion, only idiots wants to stay away from China market. such a big market and all you idiots are being conservative? oh…i said idiot already.
well said Isamu… agree with u.
better than juara??? no f##king way man… its like, they design 7 seaters body shell and fitted it on a 5 setters chasis (alphard body on avanza chasis, can u imagine that?)… thats why its look wierd and unstable… miss match interior or exterior are expectable… miss match body with chasis, no can do laa…
p/s: merry x-ms everyone
what a f**k!!!
Rusa and Juara look better.
gosh.. why all chinese cars have the same problems.. lack of interesting in the design of their cars.. not only this car, i think all the cars from china look terrible..
Well, no harm actually if we have cheaper car to compete with others, so that other cars will be competitive in price as well. Good for consumers!
It looks like a picture meant for 16:9 aspect ratio displayed in a normal 4:3 format! 8D
Wonder if there's anyone talented enuf to change its looks to something attractive…?
AM8 must FAIL CRASH TEST because it have a very short head …and because he is Chinese…
in fac it is 'china style' perodua whic means chang an's partner is suzuki n this model is base on suzuki car
i wondering how the actual look… look like transformer for me at the picture.
don't think the car is spacious inside…
admin, biggest mistake!
it is ChangAn CM8, not AM8!
http://auto.tyfo.com/auto/cias/block/images/20041… http://auto.tyfo.com/auto/cias/block/images/20041… http://auto.tyfo.com/auto/cias/block/images/20041… http://image2.sina.com.cn/qc/news/2005-07-22/U253… http://auto.people.com.cn/mediafile/200412/22/F20… http://www2.ycwb.com/img/2004-11/17/yzblhh4b65.jp… http://www.yangtse.com/img/2004-12/23/xin_c37ee6e… http://china5.nikkeibp.co.jp/china/img_data/04061…
I don't see any proportion out of this VAN. come on, this is VAN, not SEDAN.
the shape of Kenari 'lagi' feel sick to me, look a like 1980 model!
The only China car manufacturer that i hope will be selling their cars here in Malaysia is the one that copycat's Rolls Royce "Phantom" model,
Maybe for the price of 3-series, we can all have a taste of British Auto engineering with a rock bottom price, hahahahahahahahhahaha………
ps: communist still sucks!
Holy cramped spaces batman, it's a RM50k coffin.
Its front looks like a Toyota Alphard compact into a smaller version
ewwwwwwwwwwww now i finally found the true meaning of (UGLY) Why bother Changan….the company name itself it totally give out WE WILL BE BUILDING CRAPPY CARS FOR MALAYSIAN. Damn lucky Malaysian always get the crappiest car in the world lol.. GOOD Luck You all need it.
Like I said, there should be a law requiring all assemblers of foreign cars to export a percentage.
haha,
same like when Malaysia 1st launching thier saga 20 yrs back,…ppl laughing, commenting, criticizing …
CA needs more comments…
Will anyone dare to drive it? Won't it flip? or Somersault? maybe it can float…
can this even be classified as an automobile/vehicle? this looks like a very crudely designed and engineered product.
even if it is classified as a washing machine, i will say it is still the ugly one, let alone as a vehicle
that ugly man…chinese cars r rubbish…
tyres seems strangey small. Like the Subaru van with larger body.
But I am sure it'd be niced to be used by the stall owners at the pasar malam.Replace the Nissan Vanettes.
well we have perodua kancil and rusa here before and now we have ChangAn Dugong and it belongs at the bottom of the sea.
Boycott! the crap!anybody watch the Pimp my ride uK style???any comment about the host??imaging this crap and the host look alike…hahaha
the interior look too simple…and i think avanza is much better becoz avanza is from toyota..
Strange looking thing. If cheap enough I will take two!
diz iz juara evolution la.hehehehe
this is a very stupid car…im gonna ram into it when i see it on malaysian road…hehehehehee
the front looks like A R badul…stoopid chinese car…stick to making puing pong balls la.
maybe malaysians will also go
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEKALI TENGOK MACAM SPACE COP GABAN PUN ADA…
doesnt matter if it looks like george bushy armpit….malaysian people will but it for sure…
i like juara more than this junk here….
Ini keta control ke…
Before condemning China made cars, it would be good that each of us understand that NOT ALL CHINA MADE CARS are crappy and lousy. Many makes have ECE certification, which has even passed the stringent European standards, which Mercedez and BMW have to comply as well.
My advise is not to just comment blindly….
Try pushing it with your fingertips…see if it lands on its side…
“Alphard penyet “
Look like previous SUZUKI model………………something like that????
kenapa malaysian sentiasa ada negative thiking. Comment blidly why you alll da belikah kereta ni?? Da rasa gunakah?? you all semuani kaya sangatkah??? sampai benci sangat kereta yang berharga rendah.. Maybe lah kot you all ni guna kereta toyota istima, wish and etc. Tapi kalau setakat guna kereta malaysia jangan temberang banyak sangat perasan lebih. TAK BAIK TAU!!!!
talk about safety well kereta malaysia sure safe sangatkah. badan kereta m'sia macam tin cola picit sikit dah kemik but still sell expensive. Better buy kereta lain for exp. kereta exora baru $ dah nak sama dgn kereta import baik beli kereta import. Anybody yang guna kereta malaysia if you dont belive just baling sebiji mangga on the m'sia car and think about the safety you are talking about.
I just buy this car and with 6 person from penang – kl – genting – penang cost RM 135 for 930 km, then go to genting use 2 or 3 gear ONLY. when i go for highway 120km per hour i feel stabil with my stering.
pls let us know more if anyone got buy this car. how is the condition after using it for some time. did it hv any engin or spec changing problem?
It looked like the car has been squeezed in through a very tight hole. They should better the look of this car to compete with the Hondas and Mazdas. I love toyota cars.
haloooooooo………..aku dah pakai dah keta ni,enjin blh masuk enjin mitsubishi……….pasang skirt pasang spoiler rim 16 mantap beb,,,,,jgn kutuk kita sendiri pun kadand pakai kete secondhand……..pada aku kete ni save,mudah bela enjin xmeragam
huhu….yeke2??cam minat la plak….tp ade y dah beli ckp…kete ni keras…huhu…ade y xcident dgn BLM…kete die ok n BLM kemek…n langgar divider,devider pecah..mmg ade kemek..tp xseterul die pny kete wira dulu..huhuhu….i like…<3
When will the Chinese understand that no one in the West wants to buy their pet food let alone drive one of their poorly made, unsafe 'cars'?
how to say, this is just another NO FRILL type vehicle, it is based on very old concept chasis / body frame – mini cargo Van cum passenger van, engine located below front seats, quite high ground clearance, these vans are commonly available from 1980's to late 1990's, suzuki, daihatsu are the most famous makers, in singapore, mazda, piaggio also carries these vehicles. but recent years, ppl are looking into collision safety thus these vans are obviously can''t meet the spec.
in another hand, MPV is another new phrase used for cargo cum many passenger vehicles, therefore, they quickly rename to the new ones.
actually these vehicles are relatively easy to maintain, why? engine, chasis parts are salvaged or 'pilfered' from other models, the technology is already quite sometime, if u don't mind the look, or chasis material strength, it's definitely a very good buy, plus, don't need to lock doors also won't attract thieves' attention haha.
I like to quote Jeremy comment…. ‘there is no cheap and cheerful. Cheap is nasty and cheerful is expensive’. Hahahaha……
Malaysian is very high taste on style and quality. Sometimes, the price tag is not a matter and thats why they like to buy myvi which more expensive compare to saga blm.
If the Proton is hard to cut Myvi market with their blm, so how earth this Changan mini mpv want to cut both proton and perodua market?
Wake up china carmaker….. In china yes….. price is paramount matter. Not in MALAYSIA !
Malaysian will always be Malaysian, critics and critics, just think of these we are left behind, China just only develop and they are making progress. Their people are moving forward but where are we.
I still remember when Juara was 1st launch…..and look now juara 2nd hand is hard to find in the market.
wake up Malaysian