ten years ago, an ambitious young entrepreneur surnamed wang started his own business. at the time, shanghai gm’s buick gl8 had just hit the market and drew wang’s attention as the officially-designated commercial vehicle for that year’s apec meeting. he then bought a gl8 for his company.
“the gl8 is quite good and has helped me a lot over the years,” wang said. “but the company is growing and my old gl8 is getting older, and so i want to buy a new car for business use.”
since its launch 10 years ago, the gl8 has ushered in a new era of fast growth for china’s mpv market. who can challenge the status of the “old brother” in today’s mpv market? wang put his eyes on saic motor’s new-generation mpv, the maxus g10, when he learned that the mpv was also the officially designated vehicle at this year’s apec summit. together, the gl8 and g10 have been dubbed an saic mpv duo, with their widespread popularity and remarkable performance.
wang paid special attention to the power system’s performance. the g10 is equipped with a brand-new 2.0tgi petrol engine. saic motors took advantage of its global resources to develop the engine. it has a maximum power of 165kw, or 82.5 kw per liter, far exceeding the power performance of the gl8. according to wang, the g10 is faster than the gl8 and also has smoother gear shifting with a zf six-speed transmission.
another issue wang is concerned with is fuel consumption. describing the gl8 as an oil guzzler, he hailed the g10 as having better power performance at lower fuel consumption, saving him hundreds of dollars a year. as the g10 is equipped with a turbo engine that adopts in-cylinder central direct injection technology, the new mpv’s fuel economy has improved more than 30 percent compared with the gl8, which uses a v6 engine.
additionally, with extra-long-wheelbase of 3,198 mm, dimensions of 5,168×1,980×1,928mm, a comfortable interior and high-tech multi-media entertainment devices, the new mpv offers an enjoyable travel experience for households like wang’s, who has a six-member family.
“over the years, i’ve been almost fully devoted to my work,” wang said. “i hope to take good care of both my work and family in the future, letting my family enjoy a more comfortable life, which is one of the reasons why i have chosen the g10.”
looking back, wang said his company was prepared to tap a larger market, and he was confident it would fare better in the next 10 years with the help of the g10.
