Earlier this year, Sazgar Engineering Pakistan came to an agreement with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd (BAIC) to manufacture and assemble passenger and commercial vehicles in Pakistan. Through this partnership, the Chinese company is all set to enter the Pakistani car market. The company recently began assembly of the BJ40 and now, they have announced that BAIC BJ40 Plus bookings will open from this week with pre booking already underway.
Before we go ahead and book one for ourselves let us look at what the Chinese off-road SUV has to offer as a package.
BAIC BJ40 Plus
Appearance
Right off the bat, first glance at the vehicle is pleasing. It can be clearly noticed that the BJ40 gets it’s design inspiration from the Jeep Wrangler JL series and the latest Land Rover Defender. It’s compact, boxy and and upright off-road SUV. Because of this unique segmentation, there isn’t any supposed competition for the car in Pakistani market. This can give a critical head start to the company.
Specifications
The BAIC BJ40 comes with a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine, packing 218 horsepower and 320 Nm of torque. Depending on what type of setting you opt for, the power can be sent to either the rear wheels or all four. It has a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Diesel variant is reportedly lined up for the future.
BAIC BJ40 comes with all the latest safety features including all-wheel disc brakes with ABS technology, electronic parking brake, parking sensors, traction and stability control. Off-road features include low-range mode, hill-start assist, and descent control, rear A/C vents and climate control.
Booking and Pricing
According to reports, BAIC BJ40 Plus bookings will start from Rs 1.5 million with the total price of the SUV being Rs 7.685 million. As compared to other SUVs, the pricing gradient is a little too high.
With some decent specifications, hefty price tag and being able to target only a specific niche in the Pakistani market, it will be interesting to see for how the BAIC BJ40 perform as they start to roll out in the next few months.
