After fully revealing the all-new Baojun Valli at the end of last March, SAIC-GM-Wuling has just officially launched the model in China. The joint venture is actually relaunching Baojun’s compact station wagon under a new name and with a new marketing strategy, aiming to better meets the needs of families and business-oriented users in the Asian country.
The all-new Baojun Valli wagon is the exact same vehicle that debuted in July 2020 as the Baojun RC-5W, but under a different name after the RC-5W was abruptly discontinued due to marketing issues. As such, the Valli becomes Baojun’s first next-generation model to not use an alphanumeric badge, deviating from the strategy established by the brand in 2019 for its new model range.
In addition to the more eye-catching name, improving its visibility in the market, SGMW highlights ample space and comfort as the main arguments of the new Baojun Valli, which reopens the compact station wagon segment in China. The Valli not only offers the largest passenger and cargo space in the category, but it also comes with a roof rack that provides additional capacity for family trips and excursions.
Styling-wise, the Baojun Valli maintains the brand’s modern “interstellar geometry” design language that combines a futuristic look with practical functionality. Keeping the same body format and overall appearance as the short-lived RC-5W, the Valli comes standard with more customization options, including design enhancements and a contrasting roof rack to further promote its active lifestyle family spirit.
Unlike its predecessor that was equipped with a basic naturally aspirated engine, the new Baojun Valli’s powertrain consists of SGMW’s turbocharged 1.5-liter engine, producing 145 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, along with a six-speed manual transmission in base trim and a continuously variable automatic transmission with eight pre-programmed gear ratios in uplevel variants.
The all-new Baojun Valli is now available throughout the brand’s dealer network in China, with four trim levels called Mogan Valley, Yili Ranch, Dali Sky and Nagqu Fanxing. Its standard equipment list includes Baojun’s latest infotainment system as well as the most advanced active safety package in its class. Here are the suggested prices for the Valli in the Chinese market:
- Baojun Valli Mogan Valley: 79,800 CNY (about $12,480 USD at the current exchange rate)
- Baojun Valli Yili Ranch: 92,800 CNY ($14,500 USD)
- Baojun Valli Dali Sky: 99,800 CNY ($15,610 USD)
- Baojun Valli Nagqu Fanxing: 105,800 CNY ($16,550 USD)
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Comments
Nice enough looking wagon. Buick Century Estate anyone??
Only $16,000? Why can’t they do that in North America?
Richard P
Far lower costs.
Wages. No one here would work for $8-10 an hour. In USD the average worker in an auto plant makes about $20k a year there. You can get an unskilled American to make Tacos or clean hotel rooms for that, but not much else.
And there is Universal Health Care in China so individual companies don’t have to bear that cost alone.
Because we’re greedy
Why can’t GM or Ford make a “real” station wagon?
Mark.
They can make one any time they want. But apart from a few Volvos and Mercedes no one buys wagons in our country. Ask Buick. They had the Regal wagon recently and couldn’t give them away.
They also did nothing to promote them. Few dealers had them. And some people have long memories of GM’s past history of abandoned captive imports.
mark, Megeebee and TGG: Wagons just don’t sell any more. I work at a Volvo store and can’t recall the last time I delivered a V60 or V90 (wagons). And just like GM/Buick who didn’t advertise the Regal TourX, Volvo also doesn’t promote the V60/90’s either.
Just like the sedans are now going, the wagons are basically history because people don’t buy them.
30k people a month by the Toyota Corolla. People in the US clearly buy sedans… Just not ones that aren’t advertised or refreshed in a competitive way from lowercase gm. Mary Barra will prove to be a failure in the next 5-10 years… lowercase gm continues to lose market share to the Japanese and the Koreans brands.
Another thing the Corolla has is brand and model recognition. It is a compact sedan that has been offered under the same name for decades. People know what it is.
GM in the meantime offered the compact Chevy under Cavalier, Cobalt, then Cruze, and if you stretch it a bit, Primm under two brands, Geo and Chevrolet. Non-car nuts lose track.
Many people including myself have bought a wagons lately. They are now called CROSSOVERS. My “CROSSOVER” is a Subaru Outback, which is essentially a raised sedan with an extended body. Subaru advertises the vehicle and it pays off in many sales.
I like it. Drop it, add some cool painted graphics, performance mods, and let’s roll. After owning over 50 wagons since my ’64 Impala in 1976, I know how to speak Wagon Dialect
So, it comes with its own casket on top for any stray COVID-19 China virus deaths?
Norm, Really do we still need to update you on giving up your silly jokes that really were never funny. No one laughed and you then look like the uneducated low wage been nowhere kind of guy that you are. Yeah, no that was not funny that was just the truth for you. Now leave the jokes in your head and do not part those lips, this is what keeps you in trouble and you never really get it. No return comments needed. Ciao
2022 Buick Skylark wagon.
I will take a manual wagon for less than 20k any day of the week.
I still have my 2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon, IN Blue, and I also thought that the Buick TourX was a dynamic effort. This has potential Redo the front fascia and grille, and it has potential looks. I am also nervous about total Chinese build quality. With the way the wagon market is shrinking, I am doing my best to keep my CTS wagon in pristine shape.
Who knows what offerings wagons will have in the future
Norm…lol…
People are dumb to the max , they don’t buy wagons just because they told those’re not cool, make them laughing stocks , then they flocking to buy SUVs which are slightly taller wagons, because they told those make them cool.
And yet the Germans own the sedan market now since U.S. companies don’t want to sell sedans or wagons. Poor marketing.