Chinese SUV Gets Worst-Ever Safety Grades

[BMWDave]

Chinese SUV Gets Worst-Ever Safety Grades
Date Posted 09-20-2005

LONDON ? The JiangLing Landwind sport-utility vehicle, one of the first Chinese vehicles to hit a major western market, received the worst-ever score in European safety crash tests.

The two-ton 4x4 scored zero stars in crash tests last week by the ADAC, the German automobile club, which carries out tests for the European market, the Times of London reported.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

The Landwind, which competes against products such as the Kia Sportage and the Hyundai Tucson, was displayed at the Frankfurt motor show last week and is expected to arrive in British showrooms in a few months. It is already on sale in Germany, Belgium and Holland. A decision has not been made whether to sell the vehicle in the United States.

Safety researchers said a driver would be unlikely to survive a head-on collision at 40 mph in the Landwind.

What this means to you: Delete the JiangLing Landwind from your shopping list. Researchers warn it "belongs in the 1990s in terms of engineering."

[thewizard16]

Well, at least now we know (other than lower labor costs) how they make these things so cheap. "Safety engineers? What do they do?"

[MX793]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.  I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.  Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

[BMWDave]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.  I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.  Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

That answers your question.

[MX793]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.  I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.  Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

That answers your question.

Right, but testing standards change over the years.  A car with a 4 star crash rating in 1985 likely would not get 4 stars if tested today against today's cars.  

[BMWDave]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.? I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.? Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

That answers your question.

Right, but testing standards change over the years.  A car with a 4 star crash rating in 1985 likely would not get 4 stars if tested today against today's cars.

They must mean that no car, relative to the cars tested in the same year as the subject vehicle was tested, ever performed so badly.

[MX793]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.  I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.  Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

That answers your question.

Right, but testing standards change over the years.  A car with a 4 star crash rating in 1985 likely would not get 4 stars if tested today against today's cars.

They must mean that no car, relative to the cars tested in the same year as the subject vehicle was tested, ever performed so badly.

So then it isn't necessarily the absolute worst car they've ever tested, it just lags behind any competing cars more than any car previously tested.

[BMWDave]

Is it truly the worst car they've ever tested, or is it simply a case where this car lagged farther behind competitors than any other car tested.? I find it hard to believe that this car is even less safe than cars from 20 years ago.



And I love the comment about 1990s engineering.? Especially when you consider that GM is still peddling a number of vehicles which are riding on platforms that were engineered in the 1980s.

"It had a catastrophic result," said a spokesman for the ADAC. "In our 20-year history, no car has performed as badly."

That answers your question.

Right, but testing standards change over the years.  A car with a 4 star crash rating in 1985 likely would not get 4 stars if tested today against today's cars.

They must mean that no car, relative to the cars tested in the same year as the subject vehicle was tested, ever performed so badly.

So then it isn't necessarily the absolute worst car they've ever tested, it just lags behind any competing cars more than any car previously tested.

I'm just speculating here, I have absolutely no idea what they meant by that statement.  But still, the absolute worst car, even if its only in relation to cars tested that specific year, isnt an accomplishment to be very proud of.

[Raghavan]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok. But, i think that they made a mistake by selling it in Europe. IN china, they don't drive too fast, so the chances of dying are less, but those are screaming metal death traps pretty much everywhere else.

[Run Away]

Fantastic.

[Raghavan]

Fantastic.

 

[Run Away]

What?
I'm really happy for them.

[Raghavan]

What?
I'm really happy for them.

:blink:  

[cawimmer430]

The design looks like the old Opel Frontera! And the ADAC has though standards for any car. I wonder who will buy this car. It weighs 2 tons, is probably not available with a diesel engine option, has an outdated design and must be dirt cheap. Sure, it's cheap, but in these times of high gas prices, I doubt this car will succesful in Europe. You're better off going for the Kia and Hyundai rivals.

[ifcar]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.    

[cawimmer430]

^Like I said, looks like an Opel Frontera (Isuzu "something" in other markets...)^ <_<  

[Raghavan]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

[cawimmer430]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

The Isuzu looks good, the China car doesn't...

[ifcar]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

Not remotely. They changed the front end (but kept similar headlights, grille, and bumper) and the rest appears entirely identical. More egregious than many of the knockoffs posted.

Wimmer: Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport outside of Europe.  

[cawimmer430]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

Not remotely. They changed the front end (but kept similar headlights, grille, and bumper) and the rest appears entirely identical. More egregious than many of the knockoffs posted.

Wimmer: Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport outside of Europe.

Honda too!?  :o

I thought they designed their own cars.    

[BMWDave]

This is a complete copy off of the Rodeo and Passport.  Chinese manufacturers tend to make almost cosmetically identical cars to other manufacturers, but just lower the quality and safety just a couple of notches.

[ifcar]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

Not remotely. They changed the front end (but kept similar headlights, grille, and bumper) and the rest appears entirely identical. More egregious than many of the knockoffs posted.

Wimmer: Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport outside of Europe.

Honda too!?  :o

I thought they designed their own cars.  

Instead of designing their own SUVs, they used the Rodeo for the Passport and the Trooper for the Acura SLX. In exchange, Isuzu made the Oasis from the first-gen Odyssey.  

[giant_mtb]

Sick!

[cawimmer430]

At least it's an original, if dated looking, design, so it's ok.

Real original.  

Original for a Chinese car.

Not remotely. They changed the front end (but kept similar headlights, grille, and bumper) and the rest appears entirely identical. More egregious than many of the knockoffs posted.

Wimmer: Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport outside of Europe.

Honda too!?  :o

I thought they designed their own cars.  

Instead of designing their own SUVs, they used the Rodeo for the Passport and the Trooper for the Acura SLX. In exchange, Isuzu made the Oasis from the first-gen Odyssey.

Aha...it's called COOPERATION.  :P    

[ifcar]

Not really, both companies just got lazy and borrowed a car that the other had already designed. They weren't co-developed.  

[Colonel Cadillac]

The chinese have gotten past reinventing the wheel, and have gone up to reinventing the Isuzu.  

[Colonel Cadillac]

Now, could someone exlplain how this is legally feasible?

[ifcar]

Someone on C/D said that this was in fact the product of a legal joint venture (like the Passport) between Isuzu and this company, probably the only way this vehicle made it into Europe.

[BMWDave]

And here are the crash pics of the Landwind:








Pictures of Volkswagen Touareg for Comparison




Jeez!!! :o  

[Colonel Cadillac]

So if this is a joint-venture, do they have the same look and that be it, or the same pretty much everything? Because if this is a copy, howcome it is doing much worse than the Isuzu probably did.