China Car Forums - Etsong (Qindao)'s Austin Montego

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Etsong (Qindao)'s Austin Montego

Etsong bought the tooling for the Austin Maestro and Montego. They made a Maestro with a Montego front! It was known as the CA6400

Originally, Etsong was part of FAW, but it seems that SAIC bought Etsong.

Is the car still on production?

No, I think SAIC bought the factory rather than the company, possibly to build Rovers (now Roewes) in, I don't know what its being used for now though.

Erik knows a little more : https://www.chinacarforums.com/forum/...4&postcount=81

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windy

I believe they now make Chevy Sparks in that factory.

I really want to go to Chengdu and find the Morris Ital factory!:nod:

the etsong story:

a UK company called RDS (Rig Design Services) saw what looked like an opportunity - acquire the tooling and rights from a Bulgarian entity that had bought them and invest it into a JV with Etsong Tobacco to try to make them. Eventually they made a few Maestros and quite a few more of the vans. I drove one once,

Along the way they tried hard to get a tie up with FAW, indeed the cars ran 1.4 litre engines from FAW (Toyota design). But eventually it came to nothing as FAW didn't put their heart into it.

Finally the factory (In Qingdao) was sold to SGMW - which is the minivan producing JV between SAIC, GM and Wuling. I think they now make those SGMW minivans now, although since the Spark is made by SGMW (though sold as a Chevrolet) it could be that they produce that as well/ instead. I will be in the area next week, will ask the question.

cheers, FT.

(Just arrived in Japan, next week in China, first time in Asia for just over a year and first time with this new job, looking forward to it!)

The Morris Ital Made in China
http://chinacarhistory.com/2020/04/1...made-in-china/

there are way too many small partnerships with these small ventures

The Maestro van was made in China until around 2002 by Etsong. Etsong being a tobacco producer, didnt really have the nessercery knowledge to make cars, or the will to do so and soon sold their car making assets onto FAW. FAW werent really interested in making a nearly 30 year old car, so they soon put a stop to it after taking over. The factory appears to have changed hands again, this time to GM-Wuling. The Maestro has been out of production for a few years, but a plucky Chengdu based company has started up production again, putting a certain amount of truth into the phrase ‘you cannot keep class down‘

Chengdu YeMa (Lit: Wildhorse), a coach/bus builder, has put the Maestro van back into production, with a few cosmetic updates; notably, bull bars front and back. The Maestro van was turned into an MPV by FAW (I believe).

The latest incarnation of that Maestro van does not use the A or O series engines from MG-Rover, instead, the Austin van has been equipped with a 1.5 engine from the Chinese engine manufacturer Jiangsu Rui An, the 1.5 lump produces 65kw of power.

We’ve heard pricing will start from 100k RMB, but that seems like a lot of money for a car of its age, although the pedigree behind it surely would make it almost worthwhile?

http://s2.mojalbum.com/kitajci-4-fot...5_12198988.jpg
http://s2.mojalbum.com/kitajci-4-fot...5_12198985.jpg
http://s2.mojalbum.com/kitajci-4-fot...5_12198982.jpg
source: China Car Times

Re: Etsong (Qindao)'s Austin Montego

man these cars are ugly :D
sory but thats true :D