BAIC BJ20

While the BAIC BJ20 looks too extrovert and off-beat from the outside, the interior cabin draws some conventionalism, with a number of modern looking bits laid out in a subtler manner.

The multi-functional steering wheel is a two-spoke unit here, with a nice layered silver garnish extending from one spoke to other through the bottom of the center boss. The butterfly-themed instrument console looks nice, though it comes with very normal looking dials for the display.

The center console of the dashboard looks quite large in comparison to the rest of the dashboard, with the large trapezoidal housing here getting silver side and lower surrounds and houses a large touchscreen infotainment system with controls for automatic climate control just below it.

Just above the center console, there are round AC vents with a nice looking analog clock in the middle. The rest of the cabin looks decent with its all-black finish with silver accents at places, with enough space and features to make sure the inner occupants remain comfortable.

The BAIC BJ20 is one SUV which has got its proportions in the right manner, however, it is the overall design of the SUV which is actually polarizing and is not designed to suit everyone’s taste. The quirkiness of its look, especially at the front, might take some time to get used to.

At the front, the BAIC BJ20 has got a wide looking fascia, with a trapezoidal grille placed in the middle and slightly upwards. This grille comes with five U-shaped chrome bits, thus adding some aggression to the front profile.

The design for the headlamps has been done to make it look distinctive, with a semi-circular shaped housing for the main LED projector headlamps and an extended curved strip placed above the main headlamp as a part of the extensions of the grille, which house daytime running LEDs. To add some muscular appeal to the front profile, the BAIC BJ20 wears heavy cladding on the entire front bumper, with a nice rugged-looking silver skid plate at the bottom.

The side profile of the BAIC BJ20 has too many angles and vertical edges, which is not in actual symphony of the design language executed at the front. The very sharp looking angular pillars and window panels, along with squared wheel arches which too have vertical edges, make the BAIC BJ20 look boxy and upright.

The BAIC BJ20 looks the least dramatic and a bit conventional when viewed from the rear. The small semi-circular LED tail lamps, which mimic the design of that of the headlamp, come with small trapezoidal extensions on the upper corners. While the rest of the boot has a clean design, the rear bumper too is adorned with very heavy looking grey cladding, which extends a bit on the lower portion of the boot lid as well.

The BAIC BJ20 has a boxy and upright stance, which along with the light steering setup, does not offer too involving driving dynamics, especially at higher speeds. However, the suspension setup of Macpherson struts at the front and multi-link at the rear does a decent job in offering a good low-speed ride quality for urban driving.

The BAIC BJ20 gets an in-house developed 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine under its hood. This engine, which is being offered here with both the options of a 5-speed manual as well as CVT, pumps out a respectable 148 PS of maximum power and 210 Nm of peak torque output.

The BAIC BJ20 has been equipped with a decent safety equipment list, comprising of front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, brake assist, traction control, electronic stability control, front and rear parking sensors and reverse camera.

The BAIC BJ20 is not a vehicle which has the complete capability to outrun the established compact SUVs from much more renowned global automakers, with the very quirky design of it also drawing many polarized opinions. However, the SUV offers decent levels of practicality, features and refinement from the engine, which does own it good brownie points in its favor.