China: inexpensive and even cheaper cars, the budget segment

chiny24.com 1 year ago

The fight for customers in the Chinese electrical car marketplace continues. The fight is not only in the premium or average section but besides in the lowest budget segment.

Almost 5 years ago, the government launched a run to popularize and advance the sale of EV vehicles in villages and tiny towns. There are presently respective twelve companies (if not more) specialising in the production of electrical cars for this section of the market.

One of the first companies to take this challenge was WuLing (chin. 五菱), ShangHai Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (chin. 上海汽车集团股份有限公司), General Motors from the United States and GuangXi Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (chin. 广西汽车集团有限公司). The trio is simply a WuLing HongGuang (chin. 五菱宏光) model that has gained leadership in this marketplace niche.

WuLing HongGuang is offered in two- and four-door versions, has a scope of 200 to 300 km on 1 load, and costs – depending on the additional equipment – from 41.800 to 66.800 RMB (from approx. 23.1330 PLN to 36.960 PLN).

The smaller version of this car, WuLing HongGuang MINI EV is presently the cheapest electrical car in the Chinese market. The car can be bought at a price from 29.800 RMB (c. 16.490 PLN).

It has a scope of 301 km on 1 charge.

Since the beginning of this year, WuLing has been promoting its newest WuLing Bingo Plus (chin. 五菱缤果).

This is an improved version of WuLing Bingo, which has been successfully sold since the beginning of last year (more than 250,000 cars). Bingo Plus is an electrical SUV with awesome scope (for this price), large interior and respective advanced safety features. It is available in 2 versions:

basic with a scope of 401 km for 89.800 RMB (approx. PLN 49.688) and
extended with a scope of 510 km for 98.800 RMB (approx. PLN 54.666).

The vehicle is equipped with "intelligent energy management" technology, which results in an estimated scope of 10.1–10.6 km per kWh. Bingo Plus is characterized by a modern figure, sharp lines and a tidal aerodynamic body. It has a comparatively spacious interior thanks to its wide spatial architecture. Axle spacing 2610 mm, leg space on rear seats is 912 mm. The vehicle offers many retention compartments, equipped with safety features including 4 airbags, an electronic ESC vehicle stabilisation system, ABS system, automatic parking and a top-up starting assistant. It is driven by an engine of 75 kW, which from zero to 50 km/h is driven in 3.7 seconds.

The vehicle offers 3 charging modes, including fast DC charging, which allows for 30-35 minute charging from 30% to 80% capacity.

To further encourage customers to buy Bing Plus, WuLing offers different incentives. These include, among others, financial grants of up to 4.000 RMB (approx. PLN 2212), an exchange allowance of 2,000 RMB (approx. PLN 1.106), a life warrant for the owner of the first vehicle in life, free reviews for the first year or 10,000 kilometres and access to WuLing electrical vehicle charging networks covering over 300 000 positions throughout China.

Can WuLing be certain of his position in this gutter niche? Here there is besides strong competition, including from the largest companies specified as BYD (SeaGull model) or Geely (LongTeng model).