Jeep Wrangler-styled BAIC B40 geared for the great outdoors

BAIC is a Chinese motor manufacturer that has been in South Africa since 2018, but they have flown under the radar as a motor retailer. And more controversially so from a manufacturing point of view.

I am not going to get into all the political details other than to say the local BAIC (pronounced bike) story is one of those interesting little things that could end up on Netflix one day. But for now, it’s my job to tell you about the BAIC B40 Plus SUV that I got to spend a few days with.

The B40 Plus is not new to us; it has been around since 2021; but this was my first drive in any BAIC product. The B40 Plus has strong Jeep Wrangler-type styling cues, which is perhaps to be expected as BAIC had a joint venture partnership with Stellantis. And Stellantis has the Jeep marque under its umbrella.

Ready to take it off

Further cementing that Jeep Wrangler-feel, the doors and roof can be detached. And the windscreen can fold forward and latch onto the hook on the bonnet.

I think the BAIC B40 Plus pulls off that rugged, go-anywhere look that is much desired when shopping for this kind of SUV. The Citizen Motoring wasn’t going to try and figure out how quickly we could strip down the B40 Plus. And certainly wasn’t going to attempt to try put it back together again. I have no doubt that an outdoor, off-road mad owner will.

Where this ability to remove doors and roofs comes back to bite the B40 Plus, is on the open road. Now even some of the best cars in the world have wind noise creeping into the cabin. So you need to understand that the gaps provided between these parts on this SUV guarantee that wind noise will always be your traveling companion.

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BAIC B40 has plenty of punch

Talking of the open road, the top-of-the-range BAIC B40 Plus Champion that we drove comes with a punchy 160kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to an eight-speed auto box. There are 110kW/350Nm turbodiesels lower down in the range.

We had no real complaints. The engine did its job. The gearbox was easy shifting. And fuel consumption settled at around 12 litres per 100km, which is acceptable for a beefy, two-ton, brick-shaped SUV. If fuel consumption and extra torque is your thing, then perhaps one of the diesel variants would be a better choice for you.

Getting off the road is where underpinnings of the BAIC B40 Plus will come to the fore. It offers sufficient ground clearance along with an approach angle of 37 degrees, a departure angle of 31 degrees, and a ramp over angle of 23 degrees.

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No Apple CarPlay or Android Auto

There is also an on-the-fly 4WD system that offers a mechanical central transfer case and rear differential lock for those that want venture even further off the beaten path. We didn’t venture out too far. Only to the dumps to get the BAIC B40 Plus dusty. But we have no doubt that owners will do far more than this.

The B40 Plus is not without its flaws. But the one I found the hardest to live with, is that you get a spacious and functional interior with a healthy helping of spec and luxury to boot, but no Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality. The main reason for some of this disconnect in spec, for a choice of better words, is that this B40 Plus is part of an extended life cycle plan. And one can only guess that when it is replaced, this little problem will be addressed.

The BAIC B40 Plus Champion 8AT retails for R699 500 and comes with a five-year/120 000km warranty. A service plan is optional.