Beijing show: JAC gets smart

CHINESE car-maker JAC Motors has revealed three images of an all-new hybrid city-car concept that will make its global debut at this week’s Beijing motor show.

Dubbed simply the JAC IV, the two-seater/two-door micro, which looks a bit like both the Smart ForTwo and Toyota’s iQ, is said to have been designed at JAC’s Italian facility in Milan, which was established in 2005 at a reported cost of around $4.3 million.

Reports from China say the pint-sized IV comes with a hybrid drive system, potentially making it one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles ever, although full details won’t be revealed until the car appears in public on Friday.

Although it now offers the small City Pony sedan and Refine people-mover passenger cars in China, JAC Motors has established itself primarily as a maker of commercial vehicles.

JAC, which stands for Jianghuai Automobile Co, is China’s largest manufacturer of bus chassis and last year sold 450,000 vehicles. Its commercial models include the Princess FB truck, Queen Dropside utility, Queen Ambulance, King Dropside ute and a forklift.

In July 2009, JAC announced it will build a vehicle plant in Rio de Janeiro State, where just days earlier China's Wuhan Iron & Steel Co, or Wisco, announced it will build a steel mill at a greenfield site in the Brazilian state.