Wuling, is going to challenge the MPV track again.
On June 23, Wuling officially announced some information about its new MPV model, the new car is named Starlight 730, the body length, width and height are 4910mm, 1850mm and 1770mm respectively, the wheelbase is 2910mm, equipped with side sliding doors, will focus on the family travel user market, and is expected to be officially launched in the fourth quarter of 2025. According to the declaration information of the Starlight 730 on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the model will be launched in three power versions: fuel, pure electric and plug-in hybrid.
Once again named “730”, it is not difficult to guess that the goal that the new car wants to achieve is to recreate the glorious past of SAIC-GM-Wuling in the domestic MPV market.
In the field of MPV, SAIC-GM-Wuling has shown strong market appeal, and has successively launched a number of MPV models such as Wuling Hongguang, Baojun 730, Wuling Capgemini, Wuling Jiachen, etc., with cumulative sales exceeding 7.8 million units. Why the Starlight 730 is launched, the official statement is also very direct, it is an insight into the base disk users of Baojun 730 and similar people, and there is a strong demand for MPV products for model upgrades. These users crave more space, higher comfort and lower car costs, so adhering to the car-making concept of “what the people need, Wuling will build”, SAIC-GM-Wuling brought the new car Starlight 730.
Image source: Wuling Motors
Under the name of 730, he “debuted” again
Some people say that when the last Baojun 730 rolled off the production line, a symbol of an era in China’s auto market quietly came to an end.
Under the obvious signal of China’s automobile consumption upgrading, the MPV product that focuses on cost-effective advantages – Baojun 730 will be officially discontinued in 2023, and a star-level product that once sold nearly 400,000 units a year and defined China’s household MPV market announced the official end of its product life cycle. However, the number “730”, which carries the memories of many Chinese families, has not been dusted, and two years later, Wuling has flourished in the domestic market under the name of the new “Starlight 730″New energyWith new technology and new design, it returns to the “arena” in a high-profile manner.
But this will definitely not be a simple reproduction, but a strategic return related to brand transformation, market pattern and technical route.
Let’s take a look at the “legacy” of Baojun 730 first.
In 2014, Baojun 730 was born, with a price of less than 100,000 yuan, accurately filling the huge gap in the domestic low-end home MPV market at that time, and quickly became a hot industry “rising star”.
Baojun 730 successfully combines the practicality of traditional micro-surfaces with the comfort and safety close to that of a car, which well meets the core demands of the Chinese family at that time of “one car for multiple uses”, and the target consumers’ desire for 7-seat layout, reliable quality and low cost (including the cost of buying a car and the cost of using a car), Baojun 730 can be well adapted, so as soon as this car is launched, it quickly “popular”. At its peak, it delivered monthly sales of more than 50,000 units and annual sales of nearly 400,000 units, making it a veritable “national MPV” at that time.
However, under the influence of the changing times, the “national MPV” will also step down from the “altar”.
With the demand for domestic automobile consumption upgrading becoming more and more obvious, as well as the successive launch of competing products of the same type (such as BYD Song MAX, Geely Jiaji, etc.), coupled with the sweeping wave of new energy consumption, the market performance of Baojun 730 has begun to suffer more and more strong impacts, and the shortcomings in terms of product strength and brand image have begun to continue to be amplified, and Baojun 730 has gradually revealed market fatigue. Although facelifted products were launched in the later stage, in the absence of revolutionary upgrades to the core platform and power system, the market competitiveness of Baojun 730 inevitably continued to decline and eventually went to discontinue.
However, it must be pointed out that between the ups and downs of the market, the three numbers “730” have long transcended the simple model code name in the hearts of target consumer groups (especially multi-population families in third- and fourth-tier cities and counties), and have even become synonymous with “practical, reliable, large-space family cars”. This is a very valuable user cognitive asset left by Baojun 730, and the arrival of Starlight 730 must also carry the mission of awakening national memory and inheriting user assets.
Wuling’s choice to restart the name “730” can quickly awaken and undertake the deep market cognition and user emotions under the “hard work” of the previous “predecessor” models, injecting natural trust and market attention into the new model.
Although the price of the Starlight 730 has not yet been announced, since it is named “730”, it actually announces the core mission of the Starlight 730 – to inherit the mantle of Baojun 730 and continue to stick to the home MPV market. Product upgrades are a must, but continuing to cultivate the 100,000-level market is also the expectation of consumers for this new car, will the Starlight 730 be an evolved version of the trustworthy family large-space MPV in everyone’s memory? It will be an industry topic that many consumers will continue to pay attention to.
Of course, this will also be a double-edged sword, once the final price exceeds expectations too much, it is not impossible to be backlashed by public opinion. At present, for the new car Starlight 730, Wuling still shouted the slogan of “what the people need, Wuling will build”, so we also have reason to believe that Wuling’s new car pricing should not disappoint everyone.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that although the name “730” is inherited, the prefix has become starlight, and there will definitely be considerations for Wuling to reshape the value of its products. The prefix of “Starlight” marks that the new car belongs to the “Starlight” series with higher brand positioning, more advanced technology and more refined design, so this will definitely not be a simple “resurrection” of the Baojun 730, but the new energy technology (including pure electric and plug-in hybrid), new design language, higher-end configuration, etc. represented by the “Starlight” series will be deeply bound and upgraded with the national reputation and market appeal represented by the “730”. In essence, it is actually to use the technology and image of “Starlight” to inject new life into the “730”, and at the same time use the cognitive foundation of “730” to expand the mainstream household market for the “Starlight” series.
Image source: Wuling Motors
Starlight 730’s mission: to help Wuling transform?
For the Wuling Automobile brand, choosing to launch the Starlight 730 at this time is definitely a key pawn in the face of great changes in the industry.
In recent years, Wuling has been eager to get rid of a single “cheap” label. Yes, Wuling also has a clear demand for brand breakthroughs.
The success of models such as Hongguang MINIEV has allowed Wuling to maintain its market foundation well in the new energy era, and even established an absolute hegemony in the micro electric vehicle market, but it has also further deepened the brand imprint of Wuling’s “low-cost car”.
In order to get rid of this mark, SAIC-GM-Wuling has made a lot of attempts before, holding technology evolution day activities, and gradually moving closer to the direction of “technology coffee” in marketing, Lingxi hybrid, Shen refining battery, Tianyu architecture, etc., in the past two years, Wuling’s new technological achievements have continued to come out, which has indeed added a lot of points to reverse the “cheap” image. In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling has successively launched many new models aimed at leading the market upward breakthrough, such as Baojun Cloud, Baojun Xiangjing and a number of models under the Wuling silver standard, all of which have exceeded the market mark of 100,000 yuan. The Starlight series is also a key member, first the sedan Starlight, then the SUV model Starlight S, and then the current MPV model Starlight 730, which are the core weapons of Wuling to charge towards the mainstream family car market, and the ultimate goal is to enhance the brand image and brand premium ability.
In addition to further strengthening the brand upward strategy, the current launch of Starlight 730 should also have considerations to seize the blue ocean market of new energy household MPVs.
In the current domestic market, on the economic new energy MPV track, new energy MPV models that can really play and take home as the core are relatively scarce, although there are individual pioneers, but there is still a huge space in the market, the data pulled out by the big data platform of the Gaishi automobile industry shows that in the past year, the monthly sales of the domestic economic new energy MPV market have not reached 20,000 units. But in fact, with the gradual emergence of the effect of the three-child policy, the increasing normalization of the demand for multi-generational travel in the same house, and under the trend of extreme requirements of users for the economy of the car, the economic new energy MPV market with both space and economy is in relatively large demand, the reason why the market has not really formed a scale, the big reason is that there are not many models to choose from, and the plug-in hybrid + pure electric version of the Starlight 730 will be launched, which is indeed expected to fill this market gap.
The arrival of Starlight 730 will further improve Wuling Automobile’s product matrix and help Wuling complete the leap from micro/small to mainstream market. The current Wuling brand, with Hongguang MINIEV, Binguo and other products, has occupied a good share of the micro and small new energy vehicle market, and the Starlight series products supplementing the Starlight 730 will be the key layout for the Wuling brand to fully expand its product line to the higher-end mainstream household market. And after the delisting of Baojun 730, its huge user base and continuous market demand have not disappeared, and for Wuling, it does need a strong product to undertake this part of the demand. Starlight 730 is a strategic product that aims to stabilize Wuling’s basic market in traditional advantageous markets and achieve market upgrading and transformation with the help of new energy.
Can the Starlight 730 really get what it wants?
At present, although the official announcement of the Starlight 730 is still in the early stages, combined with the official information released and the current market consumption trend, the new car will definitely have all-round upgrades compared with the Baojun 730 in terms of workmanship, materials, intelligent experience, etc.
The latest technological achievements of SAIC-GM-Wuling mentioned above, such as Lingxi Hybrid, Shenlian Battery, Tianyu Architecture, etc., will empower the new car Starlight 730.
Wuling’s Lingxi plug-in hybrid system has previously withstood the test of the market, equipped with the system Starlight S PHEV version, has handed over a monthly sales of more than 7,000 units, although it has not yet entered the head camp of the market segment, but as a new model that was only launched in the middle of last year, the Starlight S PHEV can also be regarded as proving the market appeal of Wuling’s plug-in hybrid system. This system is equipped with a 1.5L Atkinson cycle hybrid engine, the thermal efficiency has reached the industry-leading level, and the fuel consumption level has also withstood the test of the market, and the officially announced Wuling Starlight PHEV WLTC working condition feed fuel consumption is 3.98 liters/100km. Next, we can look forward to whether this plug-in hybrid system installed on MPV models can also bring greater market surprises.
Shenlian battery is also an important technological achievement of SAIC-GM-Wuling in the new energy business. In terms of structure, Shenlian Battery has many innovative designs, integrating the battery pack structural beam, side panel, and thermal management system into a high-strength multi-functional unit, which has a good optimization of the overall rigidity and safety, and has also completed the realization of needle puncture to achieve needle puncture and non-fire.
In addition, from the official product official picture, it can be clearly seen that the Starlight 730 has also evolved less in design. The new car adopts the design language of the Wuling Starlight family, which is different from the square and bloated of traditional MPVs, and the Starlight 730 has smoother and more modern lines. The combination of dual front faces, split headlights, low drag design elements, etc. enhance the visual grade and sense of technology of the vehicle.
In terms of intelligence, the current SAIC-GM-Wuling’s main Ling OS Lingxi system is expected to be equipped on the new car, and the assisted driving system will definitely not be absent.
On the whole, from the perspective of the feelings given by the “730” and the market space of economical household new energy MPVs, the Starlight 730 can be said to have broad opportunities, but for this car, the challenges that will be faced in the future will not be small.
On the one hand, there is indeed a market opportunity period for economical family MPVs, but in fact, under the shadow of the current domestic market “price war”, the market expectation of higher-end products still exists. After all, the Starlight series carries the upward mission of the Wuling brand, how to let consumers accept and recognize that “Starlight 730” is a Wuling product representing higher quality and more advanced technology within a certain price range, and is the core issue that Wuling Motors must solve in marketing and product experience.
In addition, although it is necessary to sprint to the goal of market upward, the Starlight 730 still needs to reflect a certain cost performance to cater to the expectations of end users for the Wuling brand. In other words, how to balance the upward trend of brands and products with users’ requirements for cost performance will also be a hurdle to test the performance of the new car market.
On the other hand, the overall leap in quality will eventually be tested by the end market. The real performance of the Starlight 730 real car in terms of vehicle workmanship materials, NVH silence, chassis driving texture, smoothness and practicality of intelligent experience, after-sales service level, etc. also needs to be further verified.
Brief summary:
The debut of the Starlight 730 can be said to be a well-planned strategic return of Wuling. The new car carries the ambition of the Wuling brand to break through, and also shoulders the important task of filling the market gap left by Baojun 730 and stabilizing the market foundation, which is also a significant signal for Wuling to use core technology as a spear to launch a tough attack on the mainstream family MPV market.
At present, it seems that the “starlight” has given the new car a new look that is different from the past, and the golden signboard of “730” is its passport to awaken the national memory and quickly enter the market. In the emerging blue ocean of household economical new energy MPVs, Starlight 730 does have a “card” in its hand, but whether it can be played well, we will wait and see.
The Starlight 730 is Wuling’s tribute to the glory of the old era, and it is also a bright sword to the new era. Can it successfully awaken the “730” feelings deeply rooted in the memory of Chinese families and inject it with the scientific and technological charm and quality of “starlight”? Can we continue to write the past glory of the “national god car” in the new energy era? These are all important tests, which are not only the success or failure of a model, but also a key battle for the successful leap of the Wuling brand.
Wuling’s starlight journey has set off again, and the prologue of the new era of “730” is waiting to be lit up again.
