It looks good inside and out and can still rough out some rocky roads
Gone are the days when anyone thought of luxury off-roaders, the only brand anyone would come up with was Land Rover, but as we all know, Chinese brands now have an answer to every brand and almost every car at a fraction of the price too, so here is China’s answer to Jeep and all Range Rovers, the BAIC BJ40 Metapace Edition.
Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. or BAIC for short, is a Chinese automaker and is known as one of the major players in the automotive world in China, in fact, they are the sixth largest carmaker in China having sold about 1,723 million sales in the country in 2021.
BAIC has had the BJ40 model for some time now and it has always been viewed as a handsome off-roader, thanks to its uncanny resemblance to the Jeep Wrangler but it does have many differentiating features here and there to set it apart from its American counterpart.
Over the years, the BAIC BJ40 has been receiving updates to improve it’s market value and now, BAIC is giving us the most luxurious, upscale (read “atas”) and most futuristic version of this car, the BAIC BJ40 Metapace Edition and I personally would go as far as to say, I’d buy it over any Jeep or Range Rover myself.
On the outside the car looks amazing, it has a sort of Transformers vibe to it and looks very modern and futuristic while still taking styling cues from the original Jeep Wrangler. It looks rugged and menacing and especially like the triple cube headlight design and the light grey body paint in the unit seen in the pictures. Simple and clean.
Speaking of clean, the interior of the BAIC BJ40 is extremely clean, with a two-tone white and black interior, it looks very upscale in here, so much so I’d wager anyone driving this will see a Jeep as they walk over to it then suddenly question if they’re in a Range Rover while driving off.
It is beautiful but I would have preferred dark brown or all black as I fear the white may get dirty very quickly, particularly for people like me who wear mostly black, specifically black pants. Plus the push start button being illuminated and dead centre on the dashboard is a nice premium touch as well.
No official pricing or specs have been released but it is safe to assume that the BAIC BJ40 Metapace Edition will use the same 2.3 litre turbocharged engine as the current BJ40 models.
What do you think of the BAIC BJ40 Metapace Edition? I think it looks fantastic and would love to see it offered in Malaysia but for now, that is very unlikely.
