SUVs, SUVs Everywhere!
Whenever we venture to China, there’s always something new. Whether it’s the latest battery tech, the biggest CLTC range boast of the season, or the latest EV concept/production vehicle with over 1,000 horsepower, there’s always something new and unfamiliar.
This time, however, we’re going down the (slightly more) familiar route, with cars that look like stuff that we’ve already seen. Cars that look like or remind us of Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, and Jeep Wranglers. Just in case you forgot how these cars look, here’s a little reference gallery for you so you can see the resemblance:
Toyota Land Cruiser FJ
Toyota
BAIC BJ40 Black Warrior
For the unfamiliar, the nameplate has undergone a number of changes, and this latest one is an expansion of the available offerings that BAIC is able to deliver. The BJ40 Black Warrior is an edition that plays with the current-generation BJ40, and the brand packages it as a range-extended vehicle. True to the “Black Warrior” name, the car comes murdered out with black accents throughout. Black wheels, black accents, and black interior options are all checked out here. It bears a slight resemblance to the Land Rover Defender and a bit to the Jeep Cherokee in terms of its design and size. The prices for this car go as high as $40,000 in China.
It packs a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine under the hood mated to an electric motor. Combined power output is 524 horsepower and 483 lb-ft of torque, and it boasts a CLTC range of up to 807 miles combined and an all-electric range of up to 156 miles. BAIC will be BAIC for the Chinese market, and it also comes with massive screens and a tech-packed interior, along with leather, also done in black for the sake of the name.
BAIC Taitan 700
BAIC’s “Taitan” name is also a homonym for the English word “titan,” and it represents the auto group’s luxury off-roaders, so the name is there by design. What might also be a “coincidence” is the resemblance between it and the previous-generation Toyota Land Cruiser 250. BAIC went a bit further with this one, dressing it up in a Maybach-inspired two-tone paint scheme, and decked it out with all the screens and tech that make it competitive in the Chinese market. As for price, the top of the heap at the pre-selling price is about $57,870 in China.
However, there’s a big difference between this and the Toyota, which is a range-extended electric vehicle. It has a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine paired with two electric motors to enable all-wheel-drive, and it has 524 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. Its CLTC range is reported to be 832 miles combined, and it has an electric-only range of 136 miles.
BAIC Taitan 5X
Another “Taitan” in BAIC’s lineup at Chengdu this year takes after the Land Rover Defender. Auto Home explicitly stated how closely it resembled Land Rover’s off-roader. No prices have been announced for now, but we expect that it’s in the premium tier of pricing since it’s another “Taitan” from BAIC.
The model was previewed, but that didn’t stop BAIC from cluing the crowd in on some power and range figures. Two models will be offered, one pure electric and one plug-in hybrid. The pure electric version has a CLTC range of 388 miles, while the plug-in will have a pure-electric WLTC range of 144 miles. The combined power output has yet to be revealed, however.
Deepal G318
Another Chinese brand that’s taking root in the East is Deepal, and the G318 is a new SUV that tops out at about $36,000. Now, it’s not the sexiest of names, but the designers of the car would beg to differ with a rugged but futuristic exterior that takes a little bit of everything and modernizes it. Boxy, yes. A spare tire at the back, you bet. You may be able to pick out some similarities to the current Land Cruiser 250 here as well. While the exterior looks rugged, the interior is wrapped in Nappa leather, covered in screens, and filled with the latest tech that (again) keeps it competitive in the Chinese market.
All of this drives with a range-extended electric powertrain that comprises a gasoline engine and a dual electric motor system. The gas engine is a 1.5-liter turbo, and the battery pack has a capacity of 35.7 kWh. Combined with the two motors, we’re looking at 443 horsepower, which brings the car up to 62 miles per hour in just 5.9 seconds, according to Deepal. The total range of this car is claimed to be 621 miles.
GWM Haval H9 Power Soul Edition
From the back, it looks a lot like the Land Rover Defender, but it isn’t. This is the GWM Haval H9 Power Edition. The H9 is a well-known SUV in China, but this one takes the model’s off-road persona and makes a whole edition out of it. Equipped to the teeth with racks, flaps, and even a ladder, this is a sort of “ultimate” edition for customers in China who want to take their SUV off the beaten path. It even comes with a snorkel. It also comes with changes to its exterior look, with a new hood and grille design on top of the other accessories GWM gave it. It even comes in yellow.
Unlike the previous entries, this newly launched variant doesn’t come with an electrified powertrain because GWM decided that its mid-range variant was the one that deserved this off-road treatment. It comes with either a 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline motor mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, or a 2.4-liter diesel engine paired with a 9-speed automatic transmission. It does boast a 2.5-ton towing capacity as standard, about 241 horsepower and 280 lbs-ft of torque for the gasoline variant, while the figures for the diesel are about 186 horsepower and 354 lbs-ft of torque.
GWM Haval H10
Another Great Wall Motors (GWM) brand vehicle that was featured at Chengdu this year wasn’t launched, but was actually boasted about. GWM made it known that 31,826 preorders were made within the first 24 hours of its official release. It’s priced between $31,000 and $34,500.
This Chinese SUV has got a lot going for it, and one look at the spec sheet will tell you why the Chinese market was so receptive to it. The H10 has a mid-to-large SUV dimension, and it can also come configured as a five- or six-seater in the Chinese market. It runs on a hybrid range-extended powertrain that uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and dual electric motors. Combined, the total output of the system is 590 horsepower and 532 lb-ft of torque. Also impressive is the four-speed hybrid-specific transmission, and acceleration is pretty brisk at 4.9 seconds 0 to 62 miles per hour. According to the CLTC, its all-electric range is as high as 144 miles from the 42.8 kWh battery pack, while its total CLTC range is at 872 miles.
GWM Tank 300
More Jeep Wrangler than anything else on the list, the Tank 300 is what you might call China’s modern classic SUV. It’s a big hit as the brand boasted a 600,000-unit milestone for the nameplate this year. It starts at under $30,000 and tops out at $38,200 in China.
While the rest of the lineup has gasoline and diesel variants, the news surrounding this model at Chengdu is the release of the new Tank 300L variant, a plug-in hybrid that has the brand’s Hi4-Z hybrid system as the headline. At its highest trim level, the Tank 300 hybrid gets up to 697 miles with a full tank and charge, with a full electric range of up to 124 miles (WLTC figures). What’s wild is the combined power of the hybrid-electric system, which is 750 horsepower. Of course, it’s all-wheel-drive, and it has dual electric motors to achieve this why-not-make-it-more-powerful-than-a-sports-car figure.
Jetour Traveler 7
Chengdu also hosted Jetour, a sub-brand of the Chery Auto Group. Because Chery has the strongest ties to the JLR group in China, it makes sense that the Traveler 7 takes a page (or a few chapters) from its partner. No price has been announced, but it looks like the brand is already taking deposits of $115 (777 Chinese Yuan). The display model had a very Land Rover-esque hue to it. The paint reminds me a bit of Gondwana Stone, a color that appeared on the first editions of the Land Rover Defender.
C-DM is the name of the plug-in hybrid powertrain in the Travaler 7. A gas version will be available according to Jetour, but the main highlight will undoubtedly be the electrified variant. The PHEV version will reportedly come with a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with three electric motors. The power of the system is said to be 771 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque. It has a pure electric range of 152 miles according to Jetour, and the system can achieve up to 869 miles on a full charge and full tank.
Mengshi X700
One of the newer brands in China, Mengshi’s offering a new plug-in hybrid that might’ve been the quirkiest SUV in the show. The Mengshi X700 is interesting because it uses some very novel lighting effects on its front end that resemble stars. Meanwhile, the rear storage compartment (not a spare tire by the size of it) houses a large screen that we believe allows the driver to relay messages and express themselves to the person behind them.
Just like the other hybrids on this list, the formula remains the same as it carries a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine paired with a plug-in or range-extended system. For now, it’s unclear what the power figures are according to our source, but the X700 has a reported 151 horsepower from the gasoline engine only on the plug-in variant. With all of its tech, one could guess that it will have more than 400 horsepower when factoring in the electric motors.
iCar V25
This mid-sized SUV is said to pack a lot of tech. This is the iCar V25, and it’s caught between looking like a Land Cruiser FJ and a G-Wagon. The front has round eyes and a boxy look. The launch of this car is set for November of this year, so there are no official prices at the time of writing.
Ahead of the official launch, iCar has already revealed the power lurking under the hood. It’s a range-extended vehicle, which means that it has a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and electric motors that make 455 horsepower and 372 lb-ft of torque combined. The pure electric range is said to be more than 130 miles, and the combined range is over 745 miles.
