More interestingly is for this Starlight to be born from a partnership between Wuling, SAIC and GM.
While perhaps most well-known for its smaller offerings in the form of the Hongguang Mini EV minicar and Bingo EV subcompact, it now seems however that Wuling is now aiming to take a bigger cut of the big boy’s pie with the recent reveal of its new Starlight. Born from a partnership with SAIC and GM, this latest offering will mark the brand’s first entry into the sedan sector.
Now in terms of dimensions, the Starlight comes in at 4,835 mm long, 1,860 mm wide, and 1,515 mm tall with a 2800 mm wheelbase. These figures are roughly similar in size to a Toyota Camry, and is apparently sufficient for it to yield a class-leading cargo space of 540 litres.
As for its exterior design meanwhile, this sleek sedan — in the literal sense of it having an incredibly low drag coefficient of 0.228 — nets a full-width light bar up front that rests atop a stylised grille flanked by large LED headlights on either side. Its profile is then complimented by aerodynamically-optimised alloy wheels (of 17-inch or 18-inch diameters), before being capped off round its rump with an EV6-esque rear bar light signature.
Moving on inside, a standard 7-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.1-inch infotainment system can be upgraded to larger Ling OS-based 8.8-inch and a 15.6-inch units respectively on higher end variants of the Starlight. Other interior highlights within this Wuling sedan include a twin-spoke steering wheel and floating centre console, but its party piece is for its front seatbacks to be able in being folded backwards and connect flush with the rear-seat cushions to form a recliner.
Available as a PHEV or a full EV, the former is powered by Wuling’s Lingxi hybrid system that comprises of a 1.5-litre petrol four-pot and a 130 kW electric motor. Interestingly, there are two battery options with this PHEV, which encompasses a 9.5 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack that offers 70 km of electric range and a larger 20.5 kWh alternative that touts an EV-only range of 150 km.
Regardless of battery size, Wuling currently touts for the Starlight PHEV to achieve in excess of 1,100 km of range on a full tank and charge. As for the full EV version on the other hand, propulsion is provided by way of a 100 kW drive motor that will apparently propel this sedan to a top speed of 150 km/h.
Pricing for the Starlight currently starts from an incredulously affordable 88,800 yuan (RM 58,000) before climbing to 105,800 yuan (RM 70,000) for the range-topping variant. The price for the EV model has yet to be announced yet, but it could already be confirmed that this rather decent Wuling will unfortunately not make it to Malaysia any time soon.
