What is the GAC Trumpchi GS3 Power, and when is it launching in Malaysia?

Yesterday, we brought you spyshots of what is very likely the GAC Trumpchi GS3 Power doing its testing rounds in Malaysia. 

Lots of you were quite interested in it, and we'd wager that it's to do with it being a model from a make us Malaysians have hardly heard about. 

So let's change that in this article - here's your burning questions about the GAC Trumpchi GS3 Power, answered.

First of all, what is GAC?

GAC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. Based in Guangzhou, the company is owned by the Guangdong provincial government.

Trumpchi is arguably the group's most famous marque, selling sedans under the GA-series name, while SUVs wear the GS nameplate and MPVs use the GM/GN name (depending on market).

Err...is there anything to do with Donald Trump?

It has nothing to do with him. 'Trumpchi' is a translation spin-off from the Chinese word chuánqí (传祺), which means 'Legend'. 

Thanks for clearing that up. What else does GAC do?

Besides manufacturing their own cars, the company is a local joint venture partner of Honda (Guangqi Honda), Toyota (GAC Toyota), Mitsubishi (GAC Mitsubishi) and Fiat-Chrysler (GAC FCA). 

This deal somewhat makes them a Chinese carmaker with Japanese reliability, as many GAC models are based on Japanese cars.

Interesting. Does Trumpchi have an international presence?

Yes. Beyond China, GAC sells their vehicles in over 26 countries - including in the Middle East, Latin America and in Southeast Asia. This includes the Phillippines, where their cars are distributed by Legado Motors. 

Now that we have a background to the company, let's put some facts to the car in question.

What is the Trumpchi GS3 Power?

The Trumpchi GS3 Power is the successor to the Trumpchi GS3. It's a B-segment SUV that's incidentally also the smallest in the brand's lineup - which also includes the slightly bigger GS4 and GS5 models, as well as the blocky GS8. 

What are the GS3 Power's specs?

The GS3 Power comes with two powertrain options across two variants:

In total, there's five grades of the SUV. There's the sole 235T variant, and four grades of the higher-end 270T variant.

How does the GS3 Power measure?

In China, the GS3 Power goes squarely against the Geely Binyue, which as we know, became the Proton X50 here. 

Here's how they match up in size:

Size and power are one thing - what about features?

On the outside, all grades of the 270T get LED headlights and 18-inch wheels, while the 235T comes with halogen headlights and 17-inch wheels.

Going inside, buyers will be greeted to an interior that's either monotone or dual-tone. Red-on-black is an option on all but one grade of the 270T, and there's yellow-on-black and pure black interior options too.

Electric parking brake (EPB) on all 270T variants. Depending on variant too, buyers can also get a 7-inch fully-digital instrument cluster and 6 speakers.

Other features include 6-way electric driver's seat adjustment (270T only) and automatic climate control, a standard feature on all variants.

Also, the highest variant of the GS3 Power comes with GAC's ADiGo connected driving ecosystem, with more-or-less similar functions to the GKUI system found in recent Geely and Proton cars.

Jointly developed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Huawei Technologies, features in the ADiGo suite include voice commands and the T-Box vehicle telematics system.

Fair. How safe are these cars?

Only the range-topping 270T variant gets 6 airbags, while all other variants make do with only 4 (omitting curtain airbags). The highest variant also benefits from a few active driver assistance system (ADAS) functions:

• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
• Lane departure warning (LDW)
• Front collision warning (FCW)

How well have they been selling?

The GS3 Power was launched in October 2020. Sales for the model in China trail behind the Binyue however, as this table shows:

As a brand, GAC is behind Geely in China's sales chart: Geely is tops with 1.32 million vehicles sold in 2020, while GAC is in 8th place with 360,274 cars sold in the same period.

Big question - is it coming to Malaysia?

Understandably, spyshots of this car has sparked some discussion - especially considering that Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad (TCMH) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month with GAC Motor to evaluate the possibility of TCMH distributing GAC vehicles in Malaysia and Vietnam.

But it might be a bit too early to say for certain that the car's launching here - one of the biggest reasons is that distributorship agreements are yet to be signed, and there is so far no company that's been setup to represent GAC in Malaysia.

Anything else I should know?

For now, this is your definitive guide to the Trumpchi GS3 Power in Malaysia. As usual, we'll bring you more as we have it so stick around on Wapcar.my - and be sure to share your thoughts with thousands of other readers in one of our many WhatsApp groups and our official Wapcar Forum.