Beijing Auto Works is still at it, launching another civilian ‘Jeep’ off road SUV – the BAW B40. In my humble opinion, they are doing a pretty fabulous job of it – they are definitely ‘blending styles’ and pulling in visual references from some of the better designs out there – I see bits of FJ Cruiser, LandRover and Jeep. As far as performance goes, the real ‘proof is in the pudding’ though and it remains to be seen how they perform. That being said they are sure to last if they are based on the military vehicles that BAW has been making for over 50 years! You can’t make vehicles that long and not learn a thing or two) – photos from http://www.thetycho.com
All they needed to do was put seven bars into the front grille and you could be excused for thinking that this was a ‘new look’ for a Chrysler built Jeep!
The looks of the front end from this view are similar to that of the LandRover…
The extra wide D-Pillar, tail-lights and even the bumpers are highly reminiscent of the FJ Cruiser from Toyota!
Rumored to hit the market around $12,000 (wow, imagine how many they would sell in North America at that price!) , it is expected to start production in only a few months although it is officially still a concept vehicle. According to thetycho.com the BAW B40 SportJeep is a 4 wheel drive, 2.8L, 4 cylinder gasonline engine with a top speed of 145 km an hour.
BAW seem to have wound up the press and public in North America. Countless negative comments about ‘cheap knockoffs’ etc abound on the message boards for example, how about this doozy (posted by a reader on AutoBlog.com):
“this {BAW B40} is a joke and makes me sick. chrysler has a good thing with the Jeep and this chinese crap does nothing other than taint real off-road prowess. how can this even be gaining coverage? or the Fiesta rip-off for that matter?”
nonsense.
Interesting however is that there seem to be just as many folks praising BAW and other chinese manufacturers:
“Not bad, styling wise. If the grille actually had seven slots and you showed me this, I’d think it was a possible update. The rear borrows a lot from the FJCruiser (fat D-Pillar, tail-lights, bumpers). The hood-line is as much WJ as it is Rover-esque. Since it is Beijing Auto, Ill guess that it’s the same company as what was once Beijing Jeep….”
If you are interested, you can find more info about Beijing Auto Works at the following links:
References from
http://www.petrol-head.com/2008/04/beijing-2008-16.html
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/22/beijing-2008-land-wrangler-its-the-beijing-b40
http://www.thetycho.com/news_beijingauto3.htm
