Wuling’s BaoJun 630 in detail
BaoJun 630 Final Picture
The forthcoming BaoJun 630 sedan is a horribly kept secret at Wuling-SAIC-GM headquarters. The three auto giants have teamed upto develop a new car that will see a foreign owned, but Chinese designed and built sedan take on the rural markets that have so far been controlled by the self developed Chinese brands such as Chery, Geely, and Chang’an, it is also set to enter India at a certain point under GM’s careful hand.
The BaoJun 630 sedan was originally known as the Wuling Demo car concept and was set to retail for under 50,000rmb, but looking at the above spy pictures its not entirely clear if the 630 will be available for anything less than 70,000rmb or higher! The BaoJun is based on the Buick Excelle platform, which was a Suzuki and Chevrolet in other markets and measures (LxWxH) 4543mm by 1775 by 1445mm with a wheel base of 26000mm. Engine power will be a new 1.5L engine which will pack more punch than the original Buick Excelle 1.6l engine, also the 1.8L from the Buick Excelle will be available also. The gearboxes will be either 5 speed manual or six speed automatic according to media reports.
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- BaoJun 630 Final Picture
An expected launch date of June 2011 is being put forward, but it is highly likely that we will see if long before then at the Guangzhou Auto Show in December this year.
Update: Corrected launch date to June 2011, not June 2010.
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“An expected launch date of June 2010 is being put forward”……..
Uh, looks like they missed this target date already!!
Nice car though, and a VERY nice looking interior. I’ll bet they price the base model at about 55,000rmb (1.5l w/5 speed manual) and a top price of 80-90,000rmb (1.8l w/auto trans). Looks like the (Brilliance) FSV and the Roewe 350 have some new competition, may the best car win!!
I wouldnt put the FSV and the 350 in the same category!
In regards to price ranges, they are all in the same general ball park and that is why I lumped them together – but as far as quality and appeal………I agree with you Ash.
Jon, I have to with Ash.
Roewe 350 is from first class British technology.
Baojun 630 is from outdated Korean Daewoo technology.
I’m sure you know how to choose !!!
hk, think of what you just said……”first class british technology”. Don’t get me wrong – the british have brought MANY wonderful companies and ideas to the auto world, but up until recently the words “reliability” and “british cars” wouldn’t be used in the same sentence – if so then Rover would probably still be producing cars in England today. Here is a partial quote from autocar.co.uk –
“There are some similarities in appearance to the 550/MG6, although it’s hard to call the 350 stylish. Inside it is a cut above the 550/MG6, although there’s still a fairly basic use of leather and silver trim detailing. The switchgear shows some flair and the interior materials are of a high standard.
Visibility is good, particularly up front thanks to small A-pillars that give the cabin an airy appearance. It’s spacious too, particularly in the rear.
The 1.5-litre engine, however, is a disappointment. Part of the new NSE family of engines being produced by SAIC, it only meets Euro 4 emissions standards and will need modifications to reach Euro 5, meaning UK buyers wont be buying it in this spec. Instead, a 1.5-litre turbocharged unit will be added to the Roewe 350 line-up, with a new 1.3-litre unit expected to feature in the MG range.
With just 107bhp and 100lb ft of torque, the unit in our test car lacked grunt and needed to be worked hard, with power only coming in strongly above a raucous 3000rpm. Its not that frugal either, averaging 37.6mpg, although both wind and road noise are well suppressed. Part of that is down to the four-speed auto gearbox which does, at least, make smooth changes.
More positive is the ride and handling. The 350 rides smoothly in town and out on the motorway, but is firm enough to be reasonably fun on twisty roads.
The handling isn’t sporty, with a deliberate emphasis on comfort, but the steering offers a reasonable amount of feel. However, it is let down by a very soft brake set up that does nothing to inspire confidence.”
In other words, the 350 is not really a example of “first class british technology”. Is it still a better car than the BaoJun or the FSV? Undoubtedly – but not by all that much. The Daewoo technology in the BaoJun will give the car some solid dependability, even if it isn’t “inspiring”. The 350 DOES have some great tech gizmos (like the Google Android OS built into the car), but I’ll always prefer a car that has a rock solid engine and the ability to get from point A to point B with peace of mind – even if it IS more basic! GM also had A LOT of input in designing the BaoJun……and how do I know that? Simple – I had the chance to meet one of the GM designers working for Wuling (the company building the BaoJun) at a recent foreign experts symposium in Nanning (the Wuling factory is 2 hours away in the city of Liuzhou), and he spoke HIGHLY of the development of the BaoJun. He even said (and I quote) – “people are going to be VERY surprised at how good this car is”. Ash, I’ll send you his name and e-mail address, you might wish to contact him – I also told him about CCT and he was very interested in checking out the website. He might be a good source of future info for you!
IN the meantime, I’m going to keep a open mind regarding the BaoJun…..I have a feeling this little car might just surprise us all.
Wow Jon, very detailed info on this Baojun 630. Now I understand the position of Baojun cars in the GM structure, it will target the compact market all the way down to Spark class. I think Chevy Sail will be transferred to Baojun sooner or later. Chevrolet will focus on compact market and all the way up, pretty logical. From SAIC point of view, Roewe 350 must be above Baojun 630.
Wow, that is a GREAT hypothesis hk………..I could EASILY see BaoJun becoming the “economy” brand for GM in China. It could include the current Spark (with the upcoming next generation Spark in the Chevy lineup as a sporty, upscale sub-compact), the Sail (hatch and sedan models) and now the 630. The 630 could be the top model in BaoJun’s lineup, with a price that is slightly below the Roewe 350. SAIC will undoubtedly promote the Roewe 350 as a “upscale” compact, and it should – the 350 has features that no other car in it’s class offers. The question still remains though – how much BETTER of a car is the 350 compared to the 630? We won’t really know until next year, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see one of the chinese auto magazines do a head-to-head comparison (with maybe the Great Wall C30, the FSV and the Emgrand EC715 thrown in there just for fun). When you put all those cars together, what do you have? A new sales category – the chinese-made compact sedan class! What’s REALLY amazing is…..2 years ago it was all about the F3 – and now the F3 can’t even compete in this class (it’s tech and features are just too behind the times now). It still appears that the 350 will be top dog in this class, but the BaoJun just might end up being a strong 2nd place.
The 350 has technology that cars twice its price don’t have. Its an amazing little car, the hatchback will be a big seller!
Well, BYD F3? I think it won’t be around in big cities. BYD will lower the price of G3/L3 to compete against the list you drawn. That is the normal tactics from BYD. As long as the price is attractive, BYD can still sell them in thousands.
They could start making a turbocharged 250hp+ version of this, and tune it on the Nurburgring. And… at that spec, if they can price it at about the same as a Corolla, it will sell
DC, I think we are on the wrong channel, no connection !!!
@hk: Roewe 350 with British technology?? Then it has to be outdated.
@ Esprit de Flandre
I’m sorry if you are talking about the manufacturing capability of Britain, it is indeed outdated. On the engineering side, I would not agree with you. British technology is still there, you can find many F1 teams based in the UK. Roewe cars are developed over there. The British auto industry was killed by Trade Unions, not by their engineers.