Amidst newer and glitzier Chinese carmakers such as BYD, Geely, Xiaomi et al, you’d be forgiven for not having heard of Beijing Automobile Works (BAW), but the brand’s origins actually go all the way back to 1953.
Making a wide variety of vehicles including military trucks, BAW actually formed China’s first car-making joint-venture with the West – Beijing Jeep, later Beijing Benz – in 1984. In 2010, BAW got absorbed into the larger BAIC Group, but just 10 years later, the stake was sold and BAW fell into private hands, where it remains today.
As a stand-alone private entity, the brand has now officially entered Indonesia through PT BAW Automobile Trading Indonesia, and there are plans to build a plant in West Java for local assembly (CKD) as well as export to other right-hand drive (RHD) ASEAN markets.
So this is BAW’s first time at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS), where it displayed no fewer than five vehicles. Four of them – the M8 MPV, X03 SUV, D5 city car and T10 Pro light truck – were RHD. The battle-ready soldier you see here, called the T01, was the sole LHD car on show.
The T01 is the latest iteration of BAW’s iconic 212 series of off-roaders that can trace its roots all the way back to 1965. It’s Wrangler-ish, Defender-ish and even Suzuki SJ-ish at the front. BAW says the ladder frame features six reinforced crossmembers, high-strength steel makes up 99% of the chassis and 71% of the body, there are five-link solid axles front and rear, and torsional rigidity is 35,931 Nm².
Length, width, height, wheelbase, ground clearance and wading depth are respectively 4,705, 1,895, 1,936, 2,860, 235 and 850 mm. Other numbers include a 23.6-degree ramp angle, approach and departure angles of 40.3 and 35.5 degrees (petrol), and 40 and 36 degrees (diesel) respectively.
Yes, the T01 can be had with petrol (252 PS/410 Nm) or diesel (170 PS/415 Nm) engines – both 2.0 litre turbo units, both fed by 80-litre tanks and both connected to an eight-speed auto and part-time BorgWarner 4WD (2H, 4H, 4L). There are Standard, Economy, Sport, Snow, Sand, Rock, Mud, Wade, Mountain and Uneven drive modes.
Whether you go for the petrol or the diesel, you get a 360 camera, centre- and rear-locking diffs, a sunroof and 17-inch alloys with 265/70 highway-terrain tyres. Optional items include a front-locking diff, powered side steps, 265/70 all-terrain tyres and an external searchlight.
What do you think of the BAW T01? Should it join the likes of the GWM Tank 300, Jetour T2 and iCaur V23 in Malaysia?
The T01 is the latest iteration of BAW’s iconic 212 series of off-roaders that can trace its roots all the way back to 1965.
It will be more meaningful if they showcased earlier model together too. Not many traditional brands able to deliver such legacy.