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No Chinese motor show would be complete without some outlandishly styled model from Great Wall making an appearance, and Beijing was no different.
The grandly named Chinese car maker, which aims to produce over 500,000 cars annually by the end of the decade, unveiled the oddly named GW Feelfine – a practical Vauxhall Meriva-sized five-door hatchback with more than a hint of the Japanese market Toyota Rectis about its upright exterior.
The Feelfine is 4085mm long, 1711mm tall and 1636mm wide, and powered by a newly developed 1.5-litre four-cylinder with variable-valve timing that produces 107bhp and 107lb ft of torque. No acceleration figures are quoted, but the new front-wheel-drive five seater is said to capable of more than 100mph.
Great Wall says it plans to use the Feelfine to further penetrate the burgeoning Russian market, where the company is already well established with its entry level Peri – a clone of the Fiat Panda – before launching an all-out assault on other potentially lucrative European markets.
Keen to push its environmental credentials, Great Wall also unveiled a plug-in electric version of the Peri, which it is seeking to place into production with the latest lithium-ion battery technology.
Driven by a 67bhp electric motor, it is claimed to boast a 112 mile range and reach 70 per cent of full charge after just 10 minutes of charging. Further signs of China’s progress on the environmental front came with a reworked version of Great Wall’s strong selling Hover four-wheel drive fitted with stop/start technology and regenerative braking.
Greg Kable
Go to the next Beijing motor show article.
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