Just last week we came across the Chery A3 hatchback in Petaling Jaya's 3 Two Square. Stark naked too, it has to be said. Fast forward a few days, and yet another yet-to-be-launched model caught our (smartphone) camera's attention on the same road – the Chery V5 MPV, this time.
The people carrier's shape, if not the details, should appear familiar to Malaysian motorists. Why, it's essentially a heavily reworked version of the relatively popular Chery Eastar MPV. Both its front and rear ends may have been given substantial makeovers, but its side profile has hardly changed at all.
There's a completely new face up front, complete with large swept-back headlamps and LED daytime running lights. The change is even more dramatic round the back – the Eastar's vertical tail lamps being replaced by a wide horizontal LED light strip that's not unlike that on the Honda Civic Tourer.
Details are scarce at the moment, as the updated MPV has not been launched in any notable regions yet – its native Chinese market included. It wouldn't be too far a guess, though, that it would continue to use the existing 134 hp/180 Nm 2.0 litre ACTECO engine and four-speed auto combo.
Local distributor Chery Automobile Malaysia has been rather relentless in keeping the original Eastar MPV in tune with the times. First introduced with a Mitsubishi-sourced 2.4 litre engine in 2008, the seven-seat MPV has been regularly updated since – with Chery's in-house-developed 2.0 litre ACTECO engine in 2010, and various up-kitted versions such as the 2012's ST and most recently, the RM94,040 Eastar XT.
Seeing that this new one has already been seen running completely uncovered in Malaysia, it should be launched sooner rather than later. So, what do you think of this heavily reworked Chery Eastar MPV?
No comments:
Post a Comment