Dim Sum and draniki: how a Belarusian sedan with Chinese pedigree rides
The first sedan of the Belarusian brand Belgee appeared on the Russian market. It is based on a Chinese model that has long been known to domestic buyers, but the car assembled near Minsk is still different from its Chinese relatives. The Izvestia correspondent looked for these differences on the roads in the vicinity of the Belarusian capital.
"Belarus is divided"
To understand that the Chinese Geely Emgrand sedan, already familiar to domestic car owners, is at the heart of the newcomer to the Russian market from Belarus, you do not need to be an expert in the automotive industry and an expert in the automotive business. From the outside, the S50 can be distinguished from its "progenitor" only by the nameplates and a slightly different trim on the trunk edge with a large inscription Belgee.
However, the Belgee S50 can be called a Belarusian car without any stretch. Unlike some other models, where the entire localization is reduced only to gluing new logos, a full-fledged production has been organized near Minsk. Welding, body painting, and general assembly of cars take place here. A number of large nodes are still being shipped from China. However, the glasses, batteries, rims and tires, as well as sound insulation elements and individual electronic components are Belarusian or Russian.
Preparations are underway in one of the workshops for the production of bumpers for the sedan — they are already being produced there for the X50 crossovers. According to the chief technologist of the plant Sergey Tradchik, the planned expansion of the enterprise for the next 2-3 years involves, among other things, the organization of stamping of body parts. Therefore, the marking "Zroblena Belarus" on cars is not just a beautiful package. It really hides a fairly serious automotive industry.
Internal differences
At first glance, the interior of the S50 is no different from the Emgrandovsky, except for the logo on the steering wheel. But this is only at first glance. For example, a comfortable folding armrest with two bottle recesses appeared in the back seats — it was not on the Chinese car. In addition, the Belgee S50 allows you to directly connect your smartphone to the on-board multimedia system. Geely had to "mirror" the phone screen. However, so far the Belarusian recognizes only "Apple" devices.
Alas, the multimedia itself is quite complicated and illogical. But climate control is carried out by traditional buttons located in front of the 12.3-inch display.
However, the S50 has also inherited controversial solutions. For example, there are too short front seats, which, however, unlike the Chinese model, heat not only the cushions, but also the backs. Due to the decent wheelbase, the rear passengers will definitely not complain about the tightness: there is plenty of free legroom. However, it is inconvenient to sit in the second row — you want to tilt the backrest to a greater angle, making it less vertical. But, alas, rear seat adjustment is not offered, even as an option.
But the Belarusians took care of the cleanliness of the S50 owners' hands by screwing a strap to the inner lining of the trunk lid to close it. It looks simple, of course, but it's not on the Chinese at all: on the Emgrand, you had to slam the trunk shut by pressing on the lid from the outside and getting your palms dirty in bad weather.
Marketing restrictions
From a technical point of view, the Belgee S50 is no different from the Emgrand: under the hood is a one-and-a-half-liter 122-horsepower atmospheric engine combined with a classic six-speed automatic. However, there is still a slight difference in the behavior of the machines. If the sedan from China was somewhat upset during the test by the thoughtfulness of the transmission when starting from a standstill, then the Belarusian is deprived of this feature. When you press the accelerator pedal, the car starts off without any noticeable delays — the gearbox has clearly been updated with "brains". However, there are still opportunities for further upgrades: in the urban crowd, the transmission will start to juggle gears, not understanding which one is more suitable at the moment. At the same time, changing speeds in such conditions is often accompanied by noticeable kicks, especially when going down.
On country roads, the car does not adjust to a dynamic driving style. When accelerating, especially if the road goes uphill, the engine is frankly not strong enough. Therefore, when overtaking, in order to successfully complete the maneuver, you have to choose areas with a large margin of free space.
A more powerful powertrain is being requested under the hood of the Belgee S50, especially since the company has a 150-horsepower turbo engine in its arsenal, which is equipped with X50 crossovers. However, as Izvestia found out, it is not so much technical as marketing restrictions that prevent it from being installed on a sedan.
The company was exploring this possibility, the head of the Belgee brand in Russia, Janfu Jang, told the Izvestia correspondent. However, calculations by marketers have shown that a sedan with such an engine will cost about the same as a donor crossover, he noted. The demand for such a sedan would be small, the top manager said.
Chasing the leaders
The Belgee brand entered the top five best-selling brands last month. And this is despite the fact that until recently it was represented in the Russian Federation by only two models. The appearance of the sedan, apparently, can bring Belgee to the leaders of the Russian car market, especially given the upcoming increase in the recycling fee, which will not apply to its models as to those produced in the territory of the Union State. This will ensure that their prices are more attractive compared to the main competitors imported from abroad.
In the basic configuration, the Belgee S50 will cost 330 thousand rubles cheaper than its ancestor in China. In the top version, the difference is already almost 400 thousand rubles.
At the same time, the Belarusian sedan already looks like an interesting offer. So, the basic version of the S50 with a five-speed manual transmission will cost 1.85 million rubles, which is 330 thousand rubles cheaper than the similar Emgrand. And buying a Belarusian in the maximum configuration (2.27 million rubles) will save almost 400 thousand rubles compared to a Chinese with a similar set of options. Judging by the fact that only the 2024 Emgrand is offered on the official Geely dealers' websites in the "Cars in Stock" sections (and in very limited quantities), it is highly likely that the Belgee S50 will eventually displace its Chinese relative from the Russian market.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
