Weltmeister W6 SUV EV hits production in China

WM Motor Company, an automaker with assembly lines in Wuhan Province, China, has begun production of its third car model, the compact crossover named Weltmeister W6.

The vehicle shares the overall design with its siblings the EX5-Z and EX6 Plus (watch the video for an overview of the latter). It slots in between the two in terms of dimensions, being 4,620 mm long, 1,847 mm wide and 1,730 mm tall with 2,715 mm between the axles.

The biggest equipment highlight is a self-driving system developed by Baidu using the Apollo platform, Qualcomm 8155 chipset, 5G connectivity, seven cameras, five radars and 12 ultrasonic sensors. Cloud AVP parking assistance drives the car with Autonomy Level 4 under certain conditions.

Unlike the EX5-Z and EX6 Plus, the W6 has three displays in the cabin instead of just two. These are sized 12.3 and 12.8 inches across, leaving enough space for air intakes in the middle and cup holders on the center console.

Chinese media speculate that the W6 will ship with the same electric motor as the other two cars, rated at 218 PS (215 hp / 160 kW) and 315 Nm (232 lb-ft) of torque. They also suppose that it will come with a 65-kWh battery on board for 520 kilometers (323 miles) of NEDC-rated range.

WM Motor will unveil the car with full specs and details at the Auto Shanghai show scheduled for April 2021. The company plans to churn out up to 50,000 units annually and ship the first batch in summer. Prices should lie close to 200,000 Yuan ($30,870 USD at current conversion rates).

Another Weltmeister car – a sedan with over 800 km (500 miles) of range – should be revealed in the second half of the year.