When it comes to light commercials, Wuling is far and away the Chinese market leader. The brand, which is controlled by the SAIC, General Motors and Wuling Motors joint venture, has until recently also been wildly successful with a range of affordable MPVs. SGMW has expanded outside China and added SUVs yet Wuling is still in trouble. The question is, will things turn around once several overdue fresh models begin to appear in 2020?
MPVs
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The Sunshine and its Rhongguang and Rhongguang S derivatives, whilst technically classed as delivery vans in China, can be ordered with up to eight seats and so serve the needs of families and small businesses perfectly. Exports of the Sunshine to Thailand began in April 2006. There, a pick-up based upon the Sunshine is sold as the Wuling Scorpion. All of these vehicles are rear-wheel drive and use a separate chassis architecture.
There have been multiple updates for the Sunshine, which is now almost 18 years old although it’s fair to say the major update launched in 2013 can in many ways be thought of as a second generation model. The Sunshine 3 should be announced in 2020. The Rhongguang and Rgongguang S will probably be facelifted at the same time and then replaced in 2023.
While not nearly as old as the Sunshine, the Hong Guang (or Hongguang) is nonetheless Wuling’s second longest serving MPV. This tall & narrow model debuted at the Beijing motor show in April 2010, arriving in Chinese dealerships five months later. It is also known as the Glory.
Both 1.2- and 1.4-litre gasoline engines are offered. SAIC GM Wuling launched an additional variant, the seven-seat Hong Guang S, in August 2013. As well as different frontal styling, the S offers GM’s 1.2 and 1.5 P-TEC petrol engines. A facelifted S was announced in August 2015, the public premiere taking place a month later at the Chengdu motor show. A second facelift was announced in March at the same time as relevant updates for the Hong Guang V and Hong Guang S3 (see pic).
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By GlobalDataA renamed and rebodied model, the Hong Guang S1, premiered at November 2015’s Guangzhou motor show. Its successor is expected to be launched in 2021.
GM India began assembling versions of the Hong Guang and Hongtu models during 2012 but these vehicles, the Chevrolet N100/Enjoy and N200 were axed when the company closed the plant in April 2017. This factory, which is in Halol, came back to life recently: it now manufactures the MG Hector, an SUV.
The 730, a low-priced minivan for SGMW’s Baojun brand, had its world premiere at the Beijing motor show in April 2014 and went on sale in China three months later. There is some confusion over what happens to this model. Pre-production versions of a 730 with Wuling badging were photographed in China earlier in August, suggesting that either this will be an additional vehicle for SGMW or perhaps the Baojun original will be axed and replaced by an additional Wuling MPV.
The Hong Guang V was added to the line-up in April 2015. This 4,415mm long MPV/minivan has sliding rear passenger doors and like other Sunshine-based models, is sold mainly in China. The most recent update was announced in March. The facelift saw the looks of this model change significantly. That also suggests that SGMW is planning to keep the V in production for quite a few years yet: the successor may not arrive until 2023.
The Cortez is another MPV but whereas most are for the Chinese market, this one is a unique model for Indonesia, although it shares much with the Hong Guang S1. It was released for sale there in March 2018 and is built locally. The life cycle will probably be a long one, so a facelift probably won’t take place until 2022 and a successor may not be launched until 2026, or later.
SGMW opened its Cikarang plant in West Java during July 2017. The Indonesian factory has an annual capacity of 120,000 vehicles. The Cortez is made in the same plant. The first model, called Confero S, is a minivan/MPV adapted from the Hong Guang. The vehicle’s debut took place at the Jakarta motor show during the same month that Cikarang opened. Initially, all build was for the local market but vehicles are exported to other regional right-hand drive markets.
The Zhengcheng (‘Journey’) is a large MPV sold mostly in China. At 5,090mm long and 1,780mm wide, this is Wuling’s biggest model. The standard engine is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder, with an optional 1.8. There are both seven- and nine-seat versions. Expect a second facelift in 2022 and a replacement in 2025. The Journey, which has been in production for five years now, uses the same basic RWD ladder frame architecture as the Sunshine and its derivatives.
SUVs
Even though the Hong Guang S3 was a world premiere at Auto Shanghai in April 2017, it was facelifted in March. The S3 is a 4,655mm long seven-seat crossover, though SGMW stated when revealing this model that it was “Wuling’s first SUV”. The line-up at launch in June 2017 offered the choice between 1.5-litre normally aspirated and turbocharged units.
The S3 uses the same platform as the Hong Guang minivan. There will likely be another facelift in 2022. A replacement may not be launched until 2025.
A 4,655mm long SUV with a development code of CN210S will be added to the brand’s range in some countries. This is known due to a rebadged Baojun 530 having been a world debut at the Jakarta motor show in August 2018. The vehicle displayed there was called the Wuling SUV. As well as selling the Baojun 530 in the Indonesian market with Wuling badges, SAIC based the Hector, its first locally built MG for the Indian market, on the Baojun 530. The model name for CN210S is not yet known but the vehicle should be announced soon as it is due on sale in China by year-end.
Electric
Nothing is set in concrete just yet but reports out of China indicate that SGMW will push Wuling into so-called New Energy Vehicles (NEV). As there would be potentially prohibitive cost issues with adding a plug-in hybrid powertrain to any of the brand’s low-cost MPVs, the answer appears to lie elsewhere.
A small EV, closely related to the Baojun E100 or E200, will likely be added to the Wuling range within the next few months.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE.
This was the second feature in a series which examines future models for the passenger vehicle divisions of General Motors. The first one looked at Baojun, another brand which is co-owned by SAIC and Liuzhou Wuling Motors. After this will come Chevrolet cars, Chevrolet SUVs and pick-ups, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, and finally, Holden.
