FAW’s 3 series killer R&D work suspended
FAW have reportedly stopped R&D work on their upcoming ’3 series killer’ car according to Internet reports.
The C601 was set to be Hong Qi’s B Segment car, and it was to be launched towards the end of this year, FAW have stated that the car will now be finished towards the end of next year. The C601 was first brought to light in 2006 at the Beijing Car Show, with a total length of 4886mm and a wheelbase of 2850mm, the C601 was to be a Ford Mondeo sized car aimed directly at the upmarket mid sized sedan segment, hence the ’3 Series Killer’ moniker that it was awarded by the Chinese motoring press. The C601 was being developed around the Audi A6 platform which FAW received from their joint venture partners, Audi, FAW were then set to develop their own engine for the car. The whole package was set to cost from 250,000rmb to 350,000rmb, which puts the C601 on par with the BMW 3 Series.
One Internet rumor regarding the stoppage of R&D work on the C601 is the lack of a platform, reports say that Audi have not supplied the nessercery technology to Hong Qi as of yet, and it may take some time for IPR issues to be worked out between Audi and FAW.
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A 3 Series killer reskinned Audi A6 it can’t be, because A6 was never a 3-series killer to begin with. Furthermore, A6 is a D-segment car competing with 5 series, not a C-segment 3 series.
And how can it lack a platform if it was scheduled to launch this year? More like FAW ran into a licensing dispute with Audi that put a stop to the project.
Could it rather be engine problems? That along with geaboxes are often a big problem for Chinese manufacturers. This would perhaps account for the delay.