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On April 19, SAIC GM-Wuling joined hands with its Baojun brand to release two new cars, Baojun 310 WAGON and Wuling Hongguang S3, at the Shanghai Auto Show. The launch of these two new cars is of great significance to Wuling Baojun. Wuling Baojun’s increasingly rich family car product line has won the favor of many families, but many people may not understand that the reason why the divine car can become a divine car after so many years is also a story.
The predecessor of Wuling was Liuzhou Power Machinery Factory established in 1958. At that time, the main business of this factory was the production of marine diesel engines, which was related to shipbuilding. However, during the difficult economic period in 1959, ship production was basically stagnant, and marine diesel engines were useless. It was a disaster for a newly established factory. At this time, Liuzhou Power Machinery Factory had to start developing new products to get out of the predicament.
In 1964, the new product was successfully trial-produced. This was a high-horsepower front-rear-drive vehicle with strong rear wheels, suggesting that the car had powerful torque. At the same time, Lamborghini’s factory in Italy was producing this vehicle; of course, it was not a sports car, but a tractor.
In 1965, this tractor product named Fengshou brand passed the expert appraisal and was listed as a national finalized product. In 1966, Liuzhou Power Machinery Factory became Liuzhou Tractor Factory, and has since entered the tractor production ranks. By 1978, Liuzhou Tractor Factory’s annual output reached 5,000 units, making it one of the eight largest tractor factories in the country.
But soon, the changes in the domestic economic environment and the reform of the system led to a large backlog of tractors in 1980, and Liuzhou Tractor Factory reached a critical moment. But as the ancestors of the gods, Liuzhou Tractor Factory was once again shrouded in the aura of the protagonist. On the one hand, Liuzhou Tractor Factory began to produce sewing machines and looms to earn profits, and on the other hand, the factory actively sought transformation and began to produce miniature vehicles.
At that time, it was a wise move for Liuzhou Tractor Factory to switch to mini-cars. First of all, there were abundant medium and heavy-duty transportation vehicles in China’s automobile industry at that time, but there was a lack of mini-cars. On the other hand, influenced by the success of the micro-car (k-car) in Japan, the choice to develop mini-cars was indeed a path in line with the national conditions at that time.
In 1982, the Liuzhou Tractor Factory developed the first LZ110 minivan, which was based on a Mitsubishi minivan called the minicab. This car was a milestone in Wuling’s history, marking the quiet debut of the ancestor of the "divine car", but at that time it was still called "Wanjia Brand". In 1985, the Liuzhou Tractor Factory officially changed its name to Liuzhou Mini Car Factory and started full-scale production of mini cars. Two years later, the factory officially adopted the Wuling logo, which remains today.
The Mitsubishi Minicab was a micro-car launched in 1966. It had both a freight version and a passenger car version. A production line could meet the different tasks of pulling goods and loading people at the same time, which met the social needs of the time. Therefore, one of the reasons why the Minicab could become the imitation object of Wuling was probably also because of its versatility.
Wuling borrowed from the third-generation minicab launched in 1976. Thanks to the first modification of the 1976 Young Four-Wheeler Law, the displacement of this generation of minicab was increased from the previous generation’s 359cc to 471cc, and the length was also lengthened. The 1976 Light Four-Wheeler Law stipulated that the displacement of domestic micro-cars could not exceed 360cc, and the length and width could not exceed 3000mm/1300mm; after the modification, the restrictions were relaxed, as long as the displacement was not greater than 550cc and the length and width were not greater than 3200mm/1400mm.
Although the exact body number is not known, the size of this car should be about the same as the revised regulations, which is enough to show how small this car is. The engine is still in the same inline twin-cylinder layout as the previous generation, while the Wuling version uses the 800cc engine of the Mitsubishi export model (the export version of the micro-car is not restricted by the light four-wheeler law).
A few years later, the new Wuling LZW1010 minivan and LZW6330 minivan based on the fourth-generation minicab were launched. According to the model number rules, the length of this generation of Wuling was around 3300 mm (after 1990, the light four-wheeler law changed the length limit to 3300 mm), the width was basically the same as that of the previous generation, and the weight of the whole vehicle was about 1 ton, which was slightly larger than that of the previous generation.
This generation of Wuling, based on the fourth-generation minicab, can be said to be the most classic model of Wuling. Its shape not only inherits the angular and square shape of the third-generation minicab, but also affects the design of the Wuling van. For example, the shape of the Wuling Light was later developed on the basis of this model by increasing the front and expanding the size.
Wuling’s development potential attracted General Motors. After negotiation between the two parties, Wuling, SAIC and GM officially became a tripartite cooperative company of "China and China" in 2002, and the "Shenche" has entered a new era of development. After that, Wuling Light, Wuling Hongtu, Wuling Rongguang and Wuling Hongguang have accumulated a good reputation among the masses for Wuling, and because of the broad mass base, there are more and more "rumors in the rivers and lakes" of Wuling Shenche – such as "Autumn Mountain Drift".
So on the whole, from the early Liuzhou Wuling minicars to the current Wuling Hongguang, the products are rooted in the van, although the early models led many people to get rich (known as the "return to the capital weapon"), but the Wuling car at that time obviously lacked fashion elements. To put it bluntly, it was difficult for people to associate it with fashion.
But in the past ten years, with the heating up of China’s auto market and the popularity of SUVs, Wuling has also kept pace with the times. The Wuling Hongguang S3 came into being. Although it still has traces of a van, on the whole, it has been close to the mainstream family SUV. The tail has been redesigned, removing the double vertical tail lights that have always had a strong bread flavor.
Although visually, the ground clearance is not much higher than that of the ordinary Hongguang, visually, the S3 is more in line with the aesthetics of most people’s SUVs. It still inherits the layout of the front and rear drive, and the new car is equipped with optional 1.5 natural suction and 1.5T turbo to ensure that this SUV has enough power output. Although the price of Wuling Hongguang S3 has not been released yet, it is expected to still focus on cost performance. The price is below 70,000 yuan. Do you think it is worth buying?
AMS car review
Although the price of the new car has not been released yet, it is certain that as long as there is a reasonable price/performance ratio, the Wuling car with a deep mass base will be able to penetrate into the lives of the general public and become a good helper for home travel. We will wait and see.
(Source: ams car review)
