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MOTORING NEWS - The Changan company was founded in Shanghai in 1862 as one of the earliest Chinese initiatives. In 1984 it started building small cars for China. Growth was rapid and by 2014, the company had sold more than 10-million vehicles worldwide, including in South Africa.
When looking at Asian late-comers to the local market, questions arise about reliability and affordability. On the first count, mention of the Mitsubishi-sourced, turbo petrol engine will probably lay the worst fears to rest and the cost is quite affordable as well. A third point can be made about the styling, as the SUV has more than a passing resemblance to the popular Range Rover Evoque.
For the 2017 model year, the manufacturer introduced its Landwind SUV and Changan Star III truck series.
Initially, the Landwind 5 was only available in manual transmission. To keep up with the competition, the Chinese manufacturers introduced its first eight speed automatic gearbox. It was developed by a group of university students for the Landwind range.
The SUV may well prove the ideal vehicle for its owner as it is big, with enough space to sit five full-grown people. It also has a huge boot capacity of 855 litres.
You also get a CD player with AUX port and four speakers (eight in the flagship model). A reversing camera is currently offered at an extra cost, a component competitors offer as standard. The company has stated that will be available from next year.
Official figures claim that the Changan Landwind will do the sprint from 0 to 100km in under 13 seconds. Power is supplied by the Mitsubishi-sourced 4G63MPI turbo petrol engine producing 140kW of power and 250Nm of torque.
The Landwind is available in two derivatives, the Lux and Flagship, priced R269 880 and R289 880 respectively.
The Flagship also offers an electric sunroof, leather seats, multi-functional steering wheel and auto cruise. Safety-wise, both models come with dual front airbags, and side airbags are offered in the Flagship.
Both the manual and automatic Landwind have a standard five year or 100 000km service plan. There's also a three year or 100 000km warranty, including 24-hour roadside assistance.
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