Even for those of us whose full-time job it is to chronicle motor industry developments, keeping tabs on the Chinese onslaught can be overwhelming.
It is even more so for the average consumer in the new car market who, every other day it seems, must get familiar with new entries — nameplates never heard before, clustered around very similar price points.
Variety and competition are hardly bad things, but now more than ever, buyers rely on impartial, credible platforms to help them make sense of the increasing array on offer.
To misuse the old Animal Farm line, some products are more equal than others, and contrary to belief, not every car out there is the #BestCarEver. With that, allow us to unpack the new Changan CS75 Pro.
Changan is relatively unfamiliar but not completely unknown in SA. It first entered the market two decades ago, in the hands of a distributor named Autohaus Göbel, selling models like the Chana Star light commercial vehicle.
Its presence was short-lived, winding down operations by 2013. Now Changan is back under the custodianship of Jameel Motors, a Middle Eastern concern dating back to 1955. The company has a global footprint, including distributorship in various regions for brands such as Toyota, Lexus, Ford and BYD. It hopes to capitalise on the potential for growth in SA, taking advantage of a growing appetite for affordable Chinese offerings.
The range comprises:
- the budget-friendly Alsvin sedan (from R238,000);
- the CS75 Pro sport-utility vehicle (from R429,900);
- the Hunter double-cab (from R449,900); and
- the all-electric Deepal S07 L costing R995,900.
The subject of our assessment this week, the CS75 Pro, is offered in five- and seven-seat configurations. Our tester was the latter, in high-tier CE trim, costing R499,900. That places it in the company of fellow Chinese products such as:
- the Jetour X70 Plus 1.5T Deluxe (R484,900);
- Haval H6 2.0T Luxury (R495,500);
- BYD Sealion 5 Comfort (R499,900); and
- MG HS 1.5T Comfort (R499,900).
You could also look at the Indian Mahindra XUV 700 2.0T AX5 at R495,199. The Jetour X70 is the only other seven-seater of the bunch.
Changan includes a five-year/150,000km warranty and five-year/90,000km service plan.
From a design perspective, the CS75 Pro takes the usual Chinese C-segment SUV approach, with an aggressive front end and an overall amalgamation of cues familiar from older legacy marques’ contenders. Observers seemed to instantly tell that, yes, it hails from China.
Some may find a certain charm in the ornate grille with its shimmering finish, furrowing LED headlamp design and C-pillar window design resembling the landau bar on a hearse.
The vehicle sits on attractive multi-spoke alloys, painted black and measuring 19 inches in diameter, wrapped in 255/55 profile rubber. The brand of said rubber was Chaoyang. Unfamiliar again, but stranger names have been encountered, like the Batman tyres seen on certain Chery models.
Open the door to the CS75, and at first glance, you may think you were getting into something with a loftier price tag. Chinese brands have mastered the art of premium veneers. The Changan, with its toffee-hued leatherette, fascia trimmings and swanky decorative garnishes, makes a strong impression.
Beyond surface level, however, there are shortcomings. Many of the buttons feel light. There are harder, cheaper plastics deployed on lesser-touched regions, as well as gratuitous use of scratch-prone piano black inlays – to be fair, many German legacy firms are guilty of the same two practices.
The driver’s heated and ventilated seat control buttons are placed to the right of the steering column, out of sight, while the passenger’s are alongside the gear lever. You can see how that might trick the person behind the wheel, at least until they get fully acclimated to the vehicle.
It is quite well-equipped, with everything from a panoramic roof to adaptive cruise control and a 360-degree camera system. The infotainment system ticks the boxes, although the display is on the grainy side and the touchscreen sensitivity could be improved. There are also some of the usual Mandarin-to-English mistranslations.
The Changan is not equipped with assistance functions like lane-keeping aid or a speed warning chime, which is fine, because these systems in Chinese vehicles are typically intrusive and poorly adapted to SA conditions in any case. The airbag count is four.
The power source is a 1.5l turbocharged petrol with four cylinders, par for the course when it comes to this genre.
Output is 138kW/300Nm sent to the front wheels via a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic. The motor feels industrial under hard acceleration, with a noisy character and coarse feel. The gearbox operates fairly smoothly, but jerky take-off is caused by the slow disengagement of the electric parking brake. Average fuel consumption of our tester was 8.8l/100km, the claimed figure is 7.5l/100km.
Like the closely matched Jetour X70, the CS75 Pro offers compelling value for buyers needing seven seats, bolstered by a long list of standard features and surface-level plushness. But if the third row is not a major requirement, the likes of the Haval H6 and MG HS offer a bit more polish where powertrain refinement and perceived build quality are concerned.
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