120,000rmb and rising? Buick Excelle to launch on Jan 23rd
The Chinese automotive media are estimating that the Buick Excelle will start at 110,980rmb when it launches on January 23rd 2010.
The Excelle hatch will start with a 1.6L hatchback, and will also have a 1.8L as well as the flagship 1.6 turbo assisted model.
The 1.6T is the model that is being anticipated the most, the 1.6T is good for 184bhp, and 235Nm of torque.
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Yup…………right in the Golf range as far as price. Looks like we have the beginnings of a hot hatch segment here in China – woo hoo!! First the Golf, now the Yanglang – what’s next? Will Brilliance finally give us the FRV 1.8t? How about a turbo, tricked out Tiida – the Turiida (j/k on the name)? Maybe the Toyota Matrix? I don’t think Honda has a Civic SI hatch version anymore……too bad. Oh yeah, the Mazda 3 hatch – I could definitely see Mazda doing something with it. Anything else?
Mazda 3 MPS is supposedly going to be launched in China to rival the Golf GTI.
The toyota matrix is a dog. My brother has one. The engine has no torque unless the RPMs are screaming. It is louder than it is fast for sure.
To HH………sounds like the Matrix is a poser when it comes to being a “hot hatch”?
I only listed the Matrix there because Toyota doesn’t have anything else (as far as I know) that might qualify as a “hot hatch”. Here’s a question though – in what price segment is the “hot hatch” sub-culture really going to flourish? As cool as the Golf and Yinglang are, I can see the two segments below the Golf/Yinglang actually being more popular – the Polo/Fit/Yaris/206 crowd, and the even bigger crowd of the A1/F0/Panda/JAC A0/new Spark/320/M1/CV6/Alto. This last crowd is huge….and even though the stock versions of these little cars aren’t all that exciting from a performance standpoint, they DO represent a big opportunity for the aftermarket/upgrade shops (the next area of growth for the chinese auto industry IMO).
According to the following article the 1.8L will price at 15-17k RMB and the 1.6T will be 18-20k RMB!
http://www.che168.com/article/html/200912/20091228/20091228_272231_1.html
If true, this is a very bold move. Premium hatches don’t generally sell well over here. But this Buick is definitely hot, no doubt about it.
Looks like the Excelle 1.6T will face some competition from…
…the Opel Astra 1.6T!
http://www.che168.com/article/html/201001/20100108/20100108_274379_1.html
Seems like the new Excelle is putting pressure on the imported Astra. I thought it would, but I never expected prices to drop this much for the Astra.
If the pricing really is the same, I’ll take the imported Astra, thanks.