It was bound to happen, and as reported in Car News China, the Chinese have knocked off the F-150. We really hate to admit it, but it looks pretty good. We would love to get our hands on the steering wheel and blast this truck through the mud, and down a long dirt road to see what it would feel like at speed. The company also debuted an SUV at the 2014 Beijing Auto Show.
The Chinese company that built them was founded in 1992 and started out making mini buses and special vehicles. Two years ago it also decided to go into cars, but news the Kawei Auto K1 was unveiled at Beijing and is the first pickup to hit the Chinese market. The K1 will be available with two engines.
The largest of the two Mitsubishi-derived engines is a 3.2L six-cylinder diesel producing 107 HP. The second and smaller engine is a 2.4L four-cylinder gasoline engine dolling out 143 HP. The transmission is a 5-speed manual. Both are rear-wheel-drive only at this point, and the wheelbase is 114.8 inches.
Kawei Auto has an attractive website with information available in English, something quite uncommon for Chinese automakers, but that may be due to the fact that it is obviously bold about what they are doing.
The company’s first SUV, the Kawei W1, looks pretty slick and resembles an Explorer with no excuses. Its power comes from the 2.4L engine, or a 2.0L gasoline engine. The Kawei W1 SUV was sporting a giant chromed grille and even bigger headlights at the show.
What do you think? What if they were for sale in the USA?
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