Bestune

Bestune (Chinese: 一汽奔腾; pinyin: Yīqì Bēnténg), previous known as Besturn, is an automotive marque owned by the Chinese automaker FAW Group.[1]

Bestune 奔腾
TypeDivision
IndustryAutomotive
Founded2006 (2006)
Headquarters
Changchun
,
China
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsAutomobiles
ParentFAW Car Company
Websitefaw-benteng.com/ (in Chinese)

With products based on older Mazda sedans, Besturn targets upper middle-class Chinese consumers.[2] FAW, Besturn's owner, also manufactures the Chinese market version of the car many Besturn products are based on, the Mazda 6,[3] and Besturn models were initially produced in FAW's Mazda factories.[4]

History

Bestune began to sell its vehicles in the Russian market in 2012 with the B50 as the first model sold,[5][6] which debuted at the 2012 Moscow International Automobile Salon.[7] It had talks to have a joint venture with Avtotor to have the Besturn X80 manufactured in Russia in 2015.[8] The Besturn X80 started manufacture in Russia in April 2017 and FAW mentions that it would sell at least two to three more models by 2018.[9]

At the end of 2018, the manufacturer decided to rename Besturn's English name to Bestune.[10] This may only apply for newly introduced models, because new registrations for the Besturn X80 in China have been handed down until May 2020. The Chinese name Benteng remained unchanged.

Models

The Besturn B50 made its debut in 2009. The Besturn B70 made its debut in 2006.[11] It is based on an older Mazda 6[3] and uses the Ford CD3 platform.[12] The Besturn B50 was released in 2009[12] and is also derived from a Mazda 6.[3] As of 2011, future models include the Mazda 6-derived B90.[3]

Sales

The 134,500 units sold in 2010 constituted a substantial increase over the 70,000 of the prior year.[13] Brand popularity for Besturn may have dipped between 2011-2012.[14]

Relationship with Hongqi

The products of another FAW brand, Hongqi, may be easily confused with Besturn cars. Until 2011, the two brands shared badging,[15] and in 2008, due to flagging sales, Hongqi showrooms were merged those of Besturn.[16] It was thought that giving the Hongqi brand more sales outlets would increase sales.[17]

References
  1. Besturn B90 Sedan spotted out testing Archived 2010-10-30 at the Wayback Machine chinacartimes.com, October 27, 2010
  2. Besturn Does China's FAW Car Co. A Good Turn forbes.com. 07.11.08, 5:29 AM ET
  3. Besturn B90 to launch this year to be Mazda6 based Archived June 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine chinacartimes.com, March 24, 2011
  4. Mazda and Besturn to stop sharing production line Archived March 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine By Helen Zhang. gasgoo.com, June 22, 2010
  5. http://wardsauto.com/industry/chinese-auto-maker-faw-launches-car-sales-russia
  6. "FAW-Besturn B50 is a Toyota in Russia - CarNewsChina.com". 22 February 2013.
  7. "FAW will present a new sedan Besturn B50 in Moscow motor show". eng.autostat.ru.
  8. "FAW to have 32 distributors in Russia - Xinhua - English.news.cn". news.xinhuanet.com.
  9. "FAW has started manufacturing new models in Russia". 6 March 2017.
  10. Bestune Sales Data & Trends for the Chinese Automotive Market (englisch, abgerufen am 12. Juli 2020)
  11. FAW Launches Besturn C301 Performance Luxury Sedan Archived September 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Xiao Li and Wei Xin. FAW Official Site, Sep 13, 2006
  12. About Besturn Archived March 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine FAW Car Company Official Site
  13. "CHINA'S FIRST AUTOMOBILE WORKS POSTS 31.6% RISE IN 2010 SALES". Asia Pulse. Rhodes. Jan 19, 2011.
  14. "VW investigates whether Chinese partner copied its patents". Want China Times. China Times News Group. 2012-07-31. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  15. For shared badging, see FAW to give B50 a new grill and logo for 2011? Archived 2011-08-24 at the Wayback Machine chinacartimes.com, December 28, 2010
  16. AW Car to merge Hongqi, Besturn sales networks gasgoo.com, July 30, 2008
  17. FAW mulls merging Besturn, Xiali sales networks By George Gao. gasgoo.com, October 27, 2008
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.