Lovers of cabriolets know it well, this type of bodywork is becoming more and more rare over the years, while the automotive market becomes ever more rational, preferring to offer more practical and cleaner models to more fun vehicles. A strategy shared by the vast majority of manufacturers, both French and foreign, who increasingly ban this silhouette from their respective catalogs. And even top-of-the-range brands are doing it, with a view to reducing costs, while customers are responding less and less to the call. Only some continue to persist, for our greatest pleasure, like Mazda with its MX-5, the last representative of a bygone era. However, the Shanghai show has a little surprise in store for us, which is good, even if we should not expect to see this car land on our market.
it’s about the Wuling Mini EV Cabrio, which is no other than a discoverable variation of what is currently the best-selling electric car in the world. Remember, we told you about it in a previous article, while the zero-emission city car currently far exceeds the Tesla Model 3 in terms of sales around the world, with more than 25,778 units sold in China alone. for the month of January, compared to 21,589 units for Elon Musk’s sedan over the same period. Suffice to say that this new convertible version, just unveiled on the occasion of the Shanghai show which has just opened its doors should allow the small Chinese car to take a greater head start compared to its Californian rival. But don’t get me wrong, because the two cars actually don’t have much to see. And for good reason, this Wuling Mini EV Cabrio is neither more nor less than the smallest convertible in the world, posting a length of 2.92 meters. We are far from the 4.69 meters of the Model 3!
Rival of the Citroën Ami?
In fact, this small Chinese convertible would rather give the new Citroën Ami a hard time if it were marketed in our market, which is not yet planned. Because with a length of only 2.41 meters, the city car with the chevrons is undoubtedly one of the smallest cars in the world. If the two cars share the same engine 100% electric, the Wuling Mini EV Cabrio offers superior performance, being able to drive up to 99 km / h, for a range displayed for its 170 kilometers, against only 75 for the city car. Nothing has yet been said about a possible arrival in Europe, but no doubt that the car will have to undergo some small modifications to be able to be marketed here. This should then involve the addition of new driving aids, logically leading to a small increase in the price, although it has not yet been announced.
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