Page 6 of 6
Since its launch at the Beijing Motor Show in March 2006 -where it won the Best New Car prize for its category - Brilliance sold 35,367 units of the Junjie sedan, increasing to 72,502 units in 2007. The new wagon is derived from that Pininfarina-designed car, and aims to enable the Group to maintain its market share and further diversify its product mix in the premium luxury car segment.
Like the sedan, the Junjie wagon was designed and engineered by Pininfarina. The overall form language of the wagon is elegant and well resolved, but it is also typical of Chinese market vehicles which resemble other cars currently available: with a mix of Mercedes C-Class wagon, a BMW-like front face, and taillights that are reminiscent of those on the Jaguar X-type estate. The wheels are pushed to the very edges of the body and wrapped in soft yet powerful wheelarches, giving the car good proportions and a sporting stance. The graphic of the DLO and the profile also lends a sporting dynamism, while the character line in the bodyside combines with full surfaces to further enhance the dynamic, elegant look. The rear is dominated by a spoiler built into the roof, which was developed and refined in Pininfarina's wind tunnel, and by the taillights that recall the Brilliance logo.
The interior maintains the sedan's classic, fluid lines, but quality is lacking in the materials. The curve of the IP crosses the width of the cabin to provide distinct separation between driver and passenger, but the center stack and HVAC controls fall short of the luxury goal. The trunk, however, provides greater functionality over the sedan: the rear seats fold down to create a large load area if necessary.
The end result is a sporty and practical wagon, which will certainly continue to elevate Brilliance's image and attract the ever-growing middle class who choose not to go the SUV route. The Junjie wagon and a forthcoming FRV model go on sale this year.
Sketches released for this concept looked promising: a compact SUV in the mold of the Ford Kuga, VW Tiguan or BMW X3. But this milled mock-up really shouldn't have escaped the studio to be presented at a public show. The front end is the best part, with LED headlamps shaped like a curved sabre and a bar that runs across the grille - finished in chrome and body color - but the lower mask has a different feeling altogether, with a chrome frame to the lower grille and heavy rectangular foglamps set into the side grilles. The corners of the car appear too soft compared to the mid section and make the ends appear taller than they need be.
Looking from the side, the lightlines on the front fender above the wheelarch tend to sag and there's a lack of any continuity or indexing of the lower body section and rocker panels through to the bumpers, which have an entirely different shape of tuck-under to them. Then there's the odd 20" wheels with wide rims that not only look like they've been sourced from an aftermarket accessory shop but are fitted with 265/50 profile tires that are simply too big to fit the non-rounded wheelarches at the rocker panel and bumpers.
A very soft feature line runs through the doors with either end dropping to connect with the wheelarch lip. Just to add a little more fussiness to an already overworked design, a second crease line begins in the rear door above the door handle and runs into the wrap-around spear of the tail lamps. But instead of running the tip of the lamp graphic to the core of this line, the lamp spear runs randomly across it. Finally, the rear door shutline fights the rear wheelarch all the way up - a student couldn't have put a worse tapeline on a model. It's an object lesson in how not to add graphics onto body surfaces.
Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) has two current joint ventures with Daimler-Benz and Hyundai producing nearly 700,000 vehicles in 2007 but is only now launching its own brand under the BAIC banner. The 800 is the latest model from this highly ambitious company and, as a first start, it's impressive.
The 800 is a full-size limousine based on the large Hyundai Sonata, and follows a basic styling formula similar to that of a Lexus, Nissan Teana or Buick LaCrosse. Amongst the domestic makers, its biggest rival is the BYD F6. The front has Buick-type grille with vertical waterfall blades and large emblem in center and a lot of section within the grille bars. The rear end has the raised decklid theme typified by the BMW 7 Series, with tail lamps that wrap around the sides like a Toyota Camry, while the side DLO has a generic kicked-up rear end to it, with broad chrome surround to the windows. Big chromed multi-spoke wheels complete the very 'jeweled' look to the car.
The interior is finished in very pale ivory leather, with generous use of wood and chrome on steering wheel and center console. The broad center stack runs up onto the upper IP top surface and extends to the windscreen. Unusually, the rear face of the front seats also have a horseshoe of dark wood inlaid into them.
What sets this car apart from being just another formulaic Asian limousine is the incorporation of some really fresh details. There's a neat integration of the twin exhausts as horizontal slots on the extreme corners of the bumper, column stalks designed as thin frames rather than solid blades or cylinders, unusual frosted green acrylic window lift switches in the doors, and a beautifully crafted gearshift handle, appearing as a folded strip of aluminum with a leather pad on top.
Page 6 of 6
