A seven-seat family SUV that could be part of an export drive to the UK by Chinese company Changan, the CS95 is the bigger sister to the crossover-sized Changan Auto CS55.
Technically, the CS95 and CS55 are related only by being made by the same company – they use different chassis platforms, despite being launched within 12 months of each other.
Getting under the Changan CS95’s skin
The roomy CS95 went on sale in China in late 2016, based on an all-new monocoque platform designed and developed in-house by a team featuring European engineering talent based at Changan’s engineering centres in Chongqing, central China.
There’s a more direct British link – the all-new Blue Core 233bhp 2.0-litre turbo direct-injection four-cylinder petrol engine that powers the CS95 was designed and developed in Birmingham at Changan’s UK engineering centre. And a styling studio in Italy’s car design capital, Turin, helped create the CS95’s wholesome, Land Rover-influenced styling.
The transmission on our test car was a six-speed Aisin Warner automatic, driving all four wheels via the transversely mounted four-pot petrol.
Suspension is front struts and a rear twist beam for front-drive variants and a multi-link rear for all-wheel drive – the latter built around BorgWarner components to shift drive rearwards via an in-line driveshaft.