Spirit of the ‘ugly’ Multipla lives on in practical KiWi

Baojun's practical KiWi EV channels all the Bauhaus engery of the original and later Fiat Multipla.

The Bauhaus spirit of the world’s “ugliest” but also most ergonomic car, the Fiat Multipla, lives on in the equally ugly but also practical KiWi EV launched last week in China.

Form follows function in the concocted love child from Baojun, a Chinese automobile marque owned as a joint venture by America’s Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) General Motors and Wuling Motors.

The KiWi has a range of 305 kilometres and inherits Baojun’s new “interstellar geometry design language”. 

A 1963 Mutlipla, with thanks to Marc Vorger and Classic Car Garage for the photo.

In the press packs, much is made of the “futuristic-looking two-tone avant-garde split body styling”, which Baojun says will give the KiWi “a distinct and personalised appearance that will appeal to younger consumers”.

If the young buyers follow the example of their elders, who bought the KiWi’s ancestor in the Fiat Multipla models made in the 1960s and 2000s, Baojun marketers may just be right. 

The fugliest car in the world was also the most practical family car ever built.

Like the 2000s Multipla models, the KiWi has a “suspended cab” that gives it the same double chin design in front as “the world’s ugliest car”, and its focus on practicality over design reminds of the wind-tunnel designed 1960’s Multipla, which has had six seats and a sliding door offering easy entry. 

That old Multipla also boasted rear seats that folded flat to create an unobstructed floor to transport stuff, and such is the cult following that Fiat could recreate the Multipla in the 2000s.

(Full disclosure: I owned the 1,9 TD Multipla and it remains the best family car I ever drove, bar none.)

Like a big walking ring

One thing the first Multipla did not offer was even a vestige of safety — not with the driver pressed right up to the nose of the car with no crumple zones. 

The KiWi fixes this with high-tension steel crumple zones that basically turn the little car into a big walking ring and earned it Five Stars in C-NCAP Safety Testing. 

The KiWi’s motor generates 40 kW and 150 Nm of maximum torque, and it is geared for a top speed of 100 km/h. A direct current fast charging can fill its 31,9 kWh LFP battery, which has a range of some 300 km, depending on the load, temperature and topography. 

The four-seat KiWi measures just under three metres long and just over 1,6 metres wide, and promises a comfortable city commute on independent McPherson suspension in front and double wishbones at the back. 

While it lacks the two extra seats and sliding door of the original Multipla, the KiWi boasts an artificial intelligence voice interaction system, real-time road navigation, voice-controlled WeChat function and mobile app, which make driving more convenient and enjoyable.

Two models are available in China, with either a 40 kW or 150 Nm electric motor, which sell for about R155 k or R175 k, respectively, with no plans to export as yet.