The Beijing Car Show is the one to watch for Brazilian car aficionados. Though we drool and slobber over at what’s shown at NAIAS or in Paris, Brazilians must look elsewhere to see what’s coming to local showrooms. The New Delhi car show had some cars of interest, now it’s the Beijing show a Brazilian must watch.
Case in point, the all-new JAC SII. With a styling strongly reminiscent of a Hyundai ix35 (née Tucson) in front, and more than a passing resemblance to an Audi Q5 in the back, it should be available soon in Brazil. Though the styling is, shall we say, derivative, some of the technology available is quite surprising. According to Brazilian car enthusiast site webmotors.com.br, this SUV sports a force-fed 1.5L engine (good for about 120 hp) and a double-clutch transmission.
It looks like this maker will carry on the proud Chinese tradition of lookalikes. The only Chinese jeep sold in Brazil is the Chery Tiggo, which looks like an old Honda CRV in the front and a Toyota RAV4 in the back. As SUVs are all the rage in Brazil and this car should undercut the competition in price, it’s very possible they’ll wrangle some sales. At least they are creative in their designs and mix up strong genes from two or three hapless donors in the same car!
You know the saying, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Hyundai must be proud that they now are the subject of Chinese immitation, which used to be the problem only for Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Honda et al.