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| The BJ40 Plus, which will sell in South Africa as only the B40, despite being a 4x4 with really spunk. |
KYALAMI — One of the more intriquing vehicles launched yesterday at the start of the Wesbank Festival of Motoring was the “Beijing Jeep”, or BAIC B40 Plus.
BAIC is the acronym for Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company, a Fortune 500 company that builds everything from small electric cars to big lorries in China, with licence agreements from several big brands, including Jeep.
The B40 Plus is a serious 4x4 on a ladder frame. Build for Chinese army use, this Wrangler-based 4x4 can do mud and rocks, with a 37° approach angle, a 33° departure angle, and a 24° ramp-over angle, riding 220 mm high on 265/65 R17 tyres.
The hard top roofs pop off, to reveal an interior sporting LED-lit decor and all the knobs one expects in a throughly modern 4x4.
To put the roof back, BAIC, like Jeep, provides a rubber mallet to hammer the parts back in place.
South Africa will get a 2,0 four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, all turbo charged with six-speed auto or manual transmissions.
VP of BAIC South Africa, Ye Zhengmao, said BAIC is aggressively expanding worldwide, adding the group has high expectations for SA, where the factory at Koega in PE has now received all its “vehicle certificates and training of staff is well underway”.
BAIC plans to build range of passenger cars, SUVs, commercial vehicles at the Koega plant. The group also wants to introduce “a reliable pre-owned solution for the second hand market”.
This translates to imports of left-hand steer vehicles for non-SA markets. To protect local vehicle builders, SA legislation prohibits the sale of imported, used passenger vehicles, but all our neighbouring states provide a ready market for used BAICs.
BAIC has already launched a hatch and sedan in South Africa and Zhengmao said the 4x4 B40 Plus will meet all Msanzi’s offroad needs.
Senior manager Leon Liu told Wheels the 4x4 is currently being homulugated, and should go on sale before year end, priced at about R500 000.
While after sales contracts are still to be decided, BAIC factory warranties are typically five years or 120 000 km, with several maintenance packages, up to four years and 60 000 km.
President Cyril Ramaphosa formally activated the BAIC production line earlier this year, but as yet no cars have emerging from the plant’s gates.
When BAIC finally starts peddling the Wrangler-based B40, Wheels predicts it will have all the makings to attract an offroad cult-following as did the original Wrangler and later Suzuki Jimny.
But Liu will have to peg that predicted price a lot lower than Jeep prices to catalise this cult.
HAVAL GROWS DEALERSHIPS
Also at the Festival of Motoring were Haval, which brand recognised its top dealers and gave a sneak peak at the Haval H2 facelift, which is expected in hit South Africa in the second quarter of 2020.
MD of Haval Motors SA, Charles Zhao, said the H2 is one of the most popular compact segment SUVs in SA, holding the second spot in retail sales year to date. He said Haval SA saw sales increase by 50% year on year, while overall vehicle sales in SA fell 4% in the first half of 2019.
He said Haval has 53 dealers across South Africa, with a further four dealers to open before year end.
