BAIC’s 2.0T engine producing 206bhp comes down the line

Industry News | Ash | December 2, 2011 at 5:08 pm

BAIC C70 spy shots

BAIC’s automotive division maybe a little bit of a mess from an outsiders point of view but the company are making big gains in their Saab based cars. The first of the Bei-aab’s are set to be produced this month with the C70 sedan being one of the first to hit the production lines, the C70 will be carrying a modified version of the turbo unit that first entered the Saab 9-3 and has been modified to produce 206bhp. This particular engine has been named the B205 series and is good for 300Nm of torque which is greater than VW’s current range topping 2.0TSI producing 200bhp and 280Nm of torque.

The first Bei-aab, the C70 will hit the market in early 2012, pricing is expected to be in the 200,000 to 300,000rmb area, however Beijing Auto are going ahead with the ultimate mistake in China car marketing – they will launch with a manual car first and then introduce the CVT at a later date. This area of the market is largely automatic only, launching first with only a manual option will likely put many consumers off from the first step, even if they launch a CVT unit later on the damage has been done it will always be the ‘luxury saloon with no automatic’.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.