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  • BAIC concepts ride on Saab 9-5 and 9-3 legs

    In BAIC, Cars, China, International News / By / / 5 comments

    Saab Automobile may be well and truly out for the count, but the company’s spirit continues on in the form of its platforms, adapted to a host of Chinese offerings.

    Beijing Automotive Group showcased a series of concept models in Beijing – all styled in partnership with Italian design house Fioravanti – that utilise the 9-5 and 9-3 platforms as their starting base.

    The list is led by the C70G and C60F sedans, which ride on a reworked 9-5 platform called the M-trix, and the C50E sedan and a rather cool-looking C51X crossover utilise 9-3-based architecture. BAIC owns Chinese production rights to the two platforms, having acquired them from GM three years ago when the US automaker was still owner of the Swedish brand.

    The state-owned company also had the C90L as its integral display, with the B-pillarless executive limousine featuring suicide doors and a V12 mill, among others.

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  • Foton Tunland – a pickup conjuring images of home

    In BAIC, Cars, China, International News / By / / 23 comments

    Not a Beijing debutant, but definitely worth the mention, if only for the novel take on things it presents. Foton, which came up with the Saga SUV some years back, had a pickup called the Tunland on show as part of the overall BAIC display.

    Rather quaint name, this. Considering that rolling ‘Foton Saga’ off one’s lips immediately conjures images of a particular sedan, the initial thought must surely be that the pickup’s name is a homage to erm, Proton’s advisor, as well as the tanah air, but it’s probably an amalgamation of tundra and terrain. You think?

    Oh, yes, the truck itself. The Foton Tunland comes in single-cab, extra cab and double-cab forms. The latter, seen at the show, has a 2.8 litre Cummins ISF2.8s4161P diesel mill, good for 161 hp at 3,600 rpm and 360 Nm from 1,800 to 3,000 rpm, mated to a Cadillac-derived manual transmission.

    Performance figures include a 150 km/h top speed as well as a 0-100 km/h time of less than 13.5 seconds. Safety kit includes ABS and EBD, as well as two airbags, and there’s a 129 hp version of the ISF 2.8 too in the mix.

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  • BAIC interested in acquiring Opel in Europe?

    In BAIC, Cars, China, International News / By / / 1 comment

    Beijing Automotive Industry Holding is certainly ramping things up – the company, which has joint ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz to build cars for the Chinese market, is set to launch its own brand later this year when it completes development of a mid-sized sedan based on the previous Saab 9-5. It also plans to launch its first electric vehicle, a compact sedan, in September.

    Now, it’s looking at expanding into foreign shores, specifically Europe. The Chinese automaker has apparently intimated to General Motors that it has an interest in acquiring the latter’s Opel division in Europe, as initially reported by German newspaper Die Welt.

    Beijing Automotive’s president Wang Dazong, who spent two decades working at GM as an engineer, has stated that the company aims to expand outside its domestic home market, but the reports add that no formal offer to buy Opel has been made, and GM – which has a JV in China with SAIC Motor – hasn’t offered any comment on the matter.

     
 
 
 
 
 
 

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