Chinese SUVs: review, specifications, reviews

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

While some Chinese automakers are closing sales in Russia, more successful competitors from the same country, on the contrary, are increasing their presence in our market. In order to win the love of car enthusiasts and give a worthy response to all the cheap novelties arriving from neighboring countries, LADA will have to sweat a lot.

Market Prospects

FAW, JAC, Hawtai and BYD, which closed their sales, sold their cars in Russia in single copies. In addition, they were replaced by no less interesting Chinese "crafts". Among them is Foton, which previously sold only trucks in our country. Now the company's managers have decided to start supplying passenger vehicles to the Russian market. No less interesting for our motorists is the manufacturer of passenger vehicles Zotye, which plans to open its plant in Tatarstan in the very near future.

Those companies that were able to survive the decline in sales of new cars in Russia are also rushing into battle. Three popular brands at once are preparing to release their modern SUVs for sale before the end of the year.

Geely

Not so long ago, one of the Chinese companies declassified its novelty - the Geely SX11 Binyue car, belonging to the SUV segment beloved by Russians. The trade name of the novelty is translated from Chinese as “welcome guest”. Company executives plan to open the start of sales in early 2019.

Outwardly, the new Geely SX11 is very similar to another SUV called Geely Atlas. The two cars have almost the same front end trim.

The new Chinese SUV will be built on a unique B-segment Modular Architecture (BMA) platform. Factory engineers say the trolley has been designed from the ground up.

The dimensions of the Chinese SUV are as follows:

• total length - 2.6 meters;
• total width - 1.8 meters;
• height - 1, 609 meters.

In the near future, on the new BMA platform, design engineers will be able to build cars with any type of body and various powertrains, including those operating exclusively on electric traction.

One of the best Chinese SUVs will be equipped with a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine. It was developed jointly with specialists from Sweden. The power unit has already been successfully tested on the Volvo XC40, but now it will be installed on the "Chinese" SX-11.

GAC

The GAC car factory is relatively young. It opened in 1997, but in such a short time it was able to release several popularcar hits at home. In their reviews of Chinese SUVs of this brand, buyers say that they are reliable, stylish, modern, economical, and most importantly, high-quality cars. The veracity of these words is confirmed by the fact that the executive sedan of the automaker GAC called Trumpchi GA8 was used as the official vehicle transporting the delegation at the G20 summit, which was held in 2016.

In 2017, GAC has acquired a new product - a budget SUV called Trumpchi GS3. To date, this is the youngest representative of the Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. in the SUV segment.

Vehicle specifications

The cheapest Chinese SUV is equipped with two types of engines to choose from:

• 1.5 liter capacity, 114 horsepower and equipped with 4 cylinders;
• turbocharged 1.3 liter, 137 horsepower, also equipped with 4 cylinders.

A whole queue of buyers lined up for this model. Even before the start of sales, more than 3.5 thousand people made pre-orders. This is not surprising, because the price of such a car is quite affordable. For the maximum version, car dealerships will ask for up to 1.1 million rubles (in terms of our money).

The novelty really has many advantages, for example, a modern and attractive design, high-quality interior decoration, modern equipment, and most importantly, an affordable price tag. In addition, the more expensive GAC Trumpchi GS4 crossover, sold inChina since 2016, more than 326.5 thousand motorists have already sold out. Not surprisingly, many people want to buy a more affordable car of the same line.

Variety of GAC vehicles

With the advent of the new Chinese SUV, the GAC automobile company boasts the production of five models at once, namely:

1. The largest flagship Trumpchi GS8, which allows you to transport 7 people at once in the cabin, including the driver. Its length is 4.81 meters.
2. Comfortable Chinese SUV GS7, designed for 5 seats. This copy is slightly inferior in size to its older brother. The total length of the body is 4,732 meters.
3. GAC's mid-size crossover is called the Trumpchi GS4. Body length is 4.51 meters.
4. The smallest and most affordable crossover GS3. The length of the car is 4.35 meters.

The above model range of the Guangzhou Automobile Group is little known to buyers outside of China, but in the near future the company plans to release its crossovers to the most promising markets in the world, for example, in the USA and Russia.

Zotye

A Chinese company producing cars and crossovers is negotiating the construction of its own plant near Yelabuga. However, already at the beginning of the new 2018, Chinese Zotye T600 SUVs from Belarus will be imported to Russia. This car is an exact copy of the compact German Tiguan.

Another novelty is equipped with a gasoline 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, issuing 162horsepower. It also has a five-speed manual.

At the moment, nothing is known about the configuration of the Chinese SUV, however, judging by some scarce information, the car will cost at least 850 thousand rubles.

Foton

The Foton brand was also included in our review of Chinese SUVs, as soon the company's executives plan to open a sales office for their cars in Moscow on Mozhayskoye Highway. In addition, several dozen dealers throughout our vast country are ready to sell cars of this Chinese brand.

One of the first crossovers to be sold in Russia under the Foton brand will be the Sauvana. In fact, this is a Toyota Fortuner, but with a changed price tag. This unit will be equipped with one of two motors:

1. 163 horsepower diesel.
2. Petrol equipped with a turbine. Power - 200 horsepower.

Also, customers will be given a choice of two transmissions:

1. Modern six-speed automatic transmission.
2. Mechanical six-speed.

In Russia, only Foton crossovers with all-wheel drive will be available. However, it is too early to rejoice, since the price tag for this vehicle cannot be called a budget one, because it will be approximately 1.6 million rubles.

Lifan

The Chinese company "Lifan" is quite famous in our country. Her carshave been successfully sold by Russian dealers throughout the country for many years. In this regard, the company's management decided to sell our compatriots a compact SUV XC70, designed for seven passengers. Many motorists will surely notice its striking resemblance to the English Jeep Range Rover.

The novelty from China is equipped only with front-wheel drive and a rather weak 1.5-liter engine that can produce 109 horsepower. Also, the car will have a CVT and a lot of new advanced electronics.

Chery

The third-generation compact Tiggo, assembled at the Chery factory, could not miss our rating of Chinese SUVs. In the future, they plan to release it in Cherkessk.

The car is fully adapted for difficult Russian roads. The city crossover was equipped with the latest engine, a reconfigured suspension, improved already good sound insulation, and also updated the interior compared to the previous version of Tiggo 2.

The appearance of the car does not copy any of the well-known European and Japanese brands. About the price at which the car will be sold in Russia, there is no information from car dealership managers yet. Experts believe that the novelty will cost a little less than the larger model of the same manufacturer Tiggo 5, which costs a little less than a million rubles.

Dongfeng

The Dongfeng AX7 crossover, which has recently appeared on the domestic market, is a converted copy of the Nissan Qashqai of the first series.

"Chinese" is similar to his Japanese counterpart, not only externally, but also internally. These two cars are built on the same platform, they have the same engines with 143 horsepower and a volume of 2 liters.

The crossover is also expected to feature a more powerful 2.3-liter engine producing 173 horsepower.

The first option will be sold exclusively with manual transmission, the second will work both on the "mechanics" and in conjunction with the "automatic" transmission.

Chinese car reviews

In the negative feedback received from the Russians, there are many comments regarding crossovers from China. Buyers still criticize them for the poor quality of the metal from which the vehicle body is made. On many cars, it rusts over several years. Also, motorists have complaints about the quality of interior trim. Too large and crooked gaps lead to increased vibration of the trim elements of the machine. The plastic that is made for the dashboard and other parts of the cabin is of poor quality for the SUV. In a Chinese car, an unpleasant chemical smell from the upholstery of the seats persists for several months after purchase. In addition, based on the feedback from buyers of SUVs, cases of manufacturing defects have become more frequent, which are discovered a few days after the purchase of a vehicle from China. It is not always possible to return a car to a car dealer without litigation and receive funds fordefective goods back.

"Chinese" depreciate very quickly, it is difficult to sell them in the secondary car market. Many people still don't trust vehicles from China, especially when the car has been in the wrong hands.

The Russians also didn't like the fact that China's car factories stopped making budget cars. Many SUVs originally from China have long been worth more than a million rubles. For this price, you can buy used foreign cars from other automakers from Japan, North America and Europe.

From the positive feedback, one can single out the fact that despite the increase in prices, Chinese automakers are striving to equip their products with modern electronics, economical engines, including electric ones, reliable automatic transmissions and CVTs. Thanks to cooperation with Western European car manufacturers, Chinese vehicles have reached a new level in passenger and driver safety in case of an emergency. Successful crash tests confirm this fact. More and more people trust the big Chinese car manufacturers. In addition, more and more new models of crossovers from this country appear on the Russian market. People have the opportunity to choose a car that suits them in all technical parameters.