The boxy off-roader wars in China have a new entrant. GAC has launched the Yue 7, a plug-in hybrid off-road SUV aimed squarely at the BYD Fangchengbao Tai 7. The Yue 7 wears the full off-roader uniform – a squared-off body with wide wheel arches, rectangular headlights, a side-hinged swing-out tailgate and conventional door handles, no flush-fit trickery here.
It’s a big thing at 5,045 mm long, 2,004 mm wide and 1,933 mm tall on a 2,900 mm wheelbase, and ground clearance is 230 mm as standard, rising to as much as 310 mm on the available air suspension.
Power comes from a 1.5 litre turbo engine making 125 kW (170 PS), paired with a 205 kW (279 PS) electric motor driving the front wheels; the all-wheel-drive version adds a 220 kW (299 PS) motor at the rear. The front-driven car does 0-100 km/h in 7.5 seconds, while the dual-motor AWD gets there in 4.2 seconds.
Batteries are 28.3 kWh or 50 kWh, for an electric range of between 161 and 261 km on the CLTC cycle (132-214 km WLTC). Despite the unibody construction, GAC has given it proper off-road party tricks – the Yue 7 can maintain drive on a single wheel with the other three off the ground, and torque can be multiplied five-fold when crawling at low speeds.
Inside, it’s a five-seater with a 1.1-metre panoramic display strip across the dash, a 15.6-inch central touchscreen and – refreshingly – a proper cluster of physical buttons. The second-row seats recline to 127 degrees, and the boot holds 745 litres, expanding to 1,860 litres with the seats folded. The ADiGO 3.0 driver assistance system uses 27 sensors, with an optional roof-mounted 192-line LiDAR enabling navigate-on-autopilot functions – still Level 2, supervision required.
The Yue 7 won’t stay a China-only affair. For global markets it becomes the GAC XT80, which has already made its overseas debut in Abu Dhabi ahead of a Middle East launch – GAC’s first off-road model to go international.
There’s no word yet on right-hand drive or this part of the world, but GAC does have an established base here – Tan Chong assembles the GS3 Emzoom in Malaysia and has said CKD new energy vehicles are coming – so the door isn’t closed on the big off-roader ever landing here.
The post GAC Yue 7 launched in China – boxy PHEV off-road SUV to be called GAC XT80 for global markets appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
