SAIC is a Chinese titan. It has joint ventures with GM and Volkswagen and owns MG, Wuling, Maxus, and Rising Auto, a brand we wrote about fairly recently. SAIC also owns Baojun, which sells an electric car called KiWi EV. The company’s next vehicle will also be called KiWi, which suggests SAIC is considering a new electric car brand. The deal is that this new SUV has Suzuki Jimny vibes, as the pictures make clear.
According to CarNewsChina, the tiny SUV showed up in a recent video that they published on their YouTube channel. It is a teaser of the new product, referred to as “City Fun Trendy Product.” That is probably not the final name, but that’s what we have right now.
There is no technical information on the new car. We only know that it will be revealed at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November in a concept version, probably the one we can see in the video and in the images Baojun disclosed. To be fair, it is being announced as the first car of the new brand.
SAIC only failed to reveal which brand it is, but the tiny SUV bears the name KiWi on its front grille – if you can call it that way. We have the impression it is a screen where the vehicle can present anything it is programmed to show, even different badges. It would not be new for SAIC to do so. The Marvel R is known in European markets as an MG product. In China, it is sold under the Rising Auto (Feifang) badge.
Being boxy is not the only thing that makes it remind us of the Suzuki Jimny. It also has only two doors and a very similar design. The new car should also be AWD or 4WD, with an electric motor for each axle.
CarNewsChina stated that it should use the same underpinning as the Baojun KiWi EV. If that is indeed the case, tiny is the perfect definition for the new SUV. The KiWI EV, aka E300, is only 2.89 meters (113.9 in) long in its largest derivative. The “City Fun Trendy Product” seems larger (how big are those tires?), but we will have to wait for the Guangzhou Auto Show to confirm that.
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