Jiangling Motors Landwind
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jiangling Motors Landwind or JMC Landwind is a Chinese-built SUV. It is also sold on some of the European markets, being the first Chinese vehicle that has ever been exported to Europe. The first 200 European market Landwinds reached the Belgian port of Antwerp on July 4, 2005.
The JMC Landwind is widely derived from the Isuzu Rodeo MK1 (also sold under the name of Vauxhall Frontera in the UK, Opel Frontera in the rest of Europe and Holden Frontera in Australia and New Zealand) sold from 1991 to 1998.
The European market Landwinds are available with two Mitsubishi-built gasoline-powered engines and one Isuzu-built diesel engine.
- 2.0 L - 115 hp (84 kW)
- 2.4 L - 125 hp (92 kW)
- 2.8 L diesel - 92 hp (68 kW)
In China the SUV is sold under the name of Baowei, and it is also available as a pickup truck called Baodian.
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[edit] Controversy
The Landwind has attracted a controversy after a series of safety tests. The car made headlines after German car club ADAC showed in its crash test, carried out for EuroNCAP, that a driver of this vehicle would not survive a head-on collision at 64 km/h.
The Dutch importer of the Landwind called for a test by German safety monitoring agency TÜV to show that the car was in fact safe enough for European standards. These tests are similar to the EuroNCAP tests, but the collision speed is lower (56 km/h). He claimed that the EuroNCAP results were unjustly negative and suggested that they were influenced by the powerful German car industry, who feared to lose part of their market to Chinese competitors. TÜV subsequently confirmed that the Landwind met all mandatory safety criteria according to ECE R94 [1].
The controversy did not end there. Opponents say the TÜV test is not enough to guarantee vehicle safety today. They claim that R94 is outdated and only guarantees that the driver will be alive after a crash, and that it does not take into account serious injuries such as severe crushing of the legs. R94 is also performed at a lower speed.
Ron Zwaans, general director of JMC Landwind Europe, says his company is working together with ADAC to keep improving the Landwind's safety. He claims his goal is to ultimately pass the more rigorous EuroNCAP testing.
[edit] Paris Motor Show 2006
At the Paris 2006 Motor Show, Landwind returned and displayed an updated version of this SUV, now called the X-Pedition as well a MPV called the Fashion or CV9 that would compete in the same size class as products such as the Kia Carens.
