A Changhe A6, seen in front of a Changhe dealer in Tai’an in Shandong Province in the summer of 2018. The A6 was painted bright red with darkened windows and black mirror stalks. The car stood on a light red carpet, a rather crappy carpet for that matter. And faded. It was once as red as the car, probably, but it had almost turned into pink.
Changhe is a small Chinese automaker, originally founded in 1970 and based in Jiangxi Province. They are best known for their troubled Changhe-Suzuki joint venture, which lasted with many ups and downs from 1995 until 2018 (not to be confused with Changan-Suzuki).
Changhe has seen many changes of ownership in the last decade. BAIC is currently Change’s largest shareholder with a 70% stake. This allowed Changhe to use BAIC platforms for their new cars. And indeed, the Changhe A6 is based on the same platform as the BAIC Senova D50.
The Changhe A6 debuted in 2017 and is still in production today. But the A6 is only on sale in smaller cities, and even there it is rare.
The interior of the A6 was nice for the time, with a shipload of fake wood and leather. It had an 8-inch screen for the infotainment and big round air vents in the center stack.
Buyers of the Changhe A6 could only get one engine: a 1.5 liter four-cylinder petrol unit with an output of 116 hp and 148 Nm. The motor was mated to a 5-speed manual or a CVT, like in the car that I saw. Top speed was 170 km/h and fuel consumption was 5.7 liter/100 km. Price in 2018 for the CVT model started at 83.800 yuan.
The Changhe A6 was a fine looking automobile, almost a sedan-coupe, with a sloping roof line and a complex yet sporty trunk design. There were some shiny bits in the bumper and below the windows, but in general it was a modest kind of car.
The A6 badge with blue en red stripes to the A.
BAIC has since retired the entire Senova brand, and replaced it with the new / renewed Beijing brand. The Senova D50 is long gone but Changhe continues to use the platform for the A6.