Money

Beijing SUVs hope to climb back to former market peak

By Liu Lu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-02 07:50

A Beijing-branded SUV, resembling a Jeep, attracts attention at a hi-tech exhibition on Monday. YAN TONG / FOR CHINA DAILY

Beijing-branded SUVs, once an iconic vehicle in China for their military styling, will make a comeback this year, Beijing Automobile Works (BAW) said.

The company debuted its B40 SUV model at the 13th China Beijing International High-tech Expo on May 27.

Labeled "the Chinese Jeep Wrangler" by local press, the three-door SUV is the pioneer model of BAW's new batch of vehicles and will be on sale later this year for up to 150,000 yuan, Beijing Evening News reported.

Colloquially termed "Beiqi", BAW is a Chinese car manufacturer based in Beijing. It specializes in light off-road vehicles and trucks.

BAW initially started out producing off-road vehicles, such as the BJ-212 and BJ-2020, both of which were best-sellers in the Chinese automobile market, said Shan Wei, chief designer of the B40.

"But with the development of the domestic car industry, these military-styled vehicles lost their dominant position to sedans," he said. "We hope to help off-road cars regain their status in the consumer market."

Starting from November 2007, a team of 20 designers, led by Shan Wei, started its plans on the B40.

"Unlike our overseas counterparts, members of my R&D team were mostly young people around 30 years old," Shan said.

Last year's successful acquisition of core technology from Saab Automobile AB, a Swedish automaker owned by Spyker Cars NV, was said to accelerate BAW's independent research and development capability by at least five years.

Using the new technology, BAW plans to launch up to 20 new models between 2010 and 2014.

Five new products will be launched in 2010, including the light cross-country B61 and the high-performance sedan C60.

The first Beijing Automobile Works was founded in 1953.

Its modern version, Beijing Automobile Works Co Ltd (BAW), was properly founded in 2001 and incorporates the original Beijing Automobile Works as well as the first Chinese automobile joint venture Beijing Jeep, Beijing Automobile Assembly and Foton.