BAIC B80V – this is not a cloned G Wagon

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We’re not quite sure what is happening at Beijing Auto Industry Corp these days, their mini Jeep clone, the BAIC B40 seems to have been launched and then unlaunched, the B70 (a five door version) was due to launch this year but has also disappeared. Their Saab based vehicles are supposedly hitting the production lines later this month and their mini MPV is also heading for production next month. BAIC have taken their partners designs for granted before, as shown above they took a liking to the Jeep Wrangler, they also took a shine to Merc’s B-Class MPV, and now they’ve taken a more than a liberal shine to the Mercedes G-Wagon. The G-Wagon’s muscular angles were too much for the BAIC guys to resist and they have come up with the B80V, a civilian version of the B80VJ (top left) which in turn is based on the Yong Shi (Brave Soldier) SUV which is the new Military SUV of choice for the Peoples Liberation Army as they phase out their Soviet world war two era BJ2020′s.

When and where the B80V will be shown is anyone’s guess at this stage, but we can say with some authority that it wont be a powerful vehicle, the B40 and B70 SUV’s were rumored to be 4 cylinder engines pulling 1800kg cars which is not the best combination for off road or even on road use if you want to get anywhere fast.