China Car Times

Chang’an Motors, without realizing it, are essentially one of the pillars that made China develop so fast. Without the steam engine, Britain would be a lonely wet country in Northern Europe, and without the Mian bao che (a Chinese name for the little 7 seater MPV, lit. meaning bread van.)  China would be nothing like it is today. All of the Mian Bao Che’s in China are based off older Japanese designs, such as the Suzuki Carry and the Diahatsu Hijet but are still going strong in China, so strong in fact that Chang’an motors recently celebrated their millionth sale of their Chang’an Star Mian Bao Che since its debut on the market in 1998, this is the first time that any automaker has hit sales of one million units on a particular model in China. The Chang’an Star can be seen all over China, in mega cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and then in all of the smaller villages up and down the country. The Chang’an star is pretty much the modern day answer to the Chinese bicycle - you want to know where all the bikes in China went? Well we bet they got traded in for Chang’an Stars!

The 1.1 or 1.3 motor can carry 7 people (un)comfortably, or take the back seats out and it becomes a van that will carry anything and everything. The Star starts at 30,000rmb and rises to 60,000rmb. We are told that the quality of the Star is second to none, its economical (although we’re seeing consumption rates of 6.5l per 100km!) and the cost of spare parts is incredibly low.

China Car Times salutes the Chang’an Star, the backbone of Chinas economic growth!