BAIC PH reveals biggest Class 1 modern jeepney prototype yet

BAIC Philippines, sellers of rugged body-on-frame peoplemovers like the MZ40 WeVan, MZ45 Transporter and M20 compact MPV, has officially joined the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization initiative with their 12-seater Kalayaan jeepney.

The Kalayaan prototype puts an Almazora-built body on the rear deck of a Freedom compact truck — what BAIC Philippines president George Chua asserts to be the “smart man’s pickup.”

The Kalayaan is the biggest prototype in the Class 1 category so far. Intended as compact transport for short routes on crowded inner-city roads, the Kalayaan can seat 12 people, including the driver and a front-seat passenger, with 10 people in the rear cabin afforded generous 40cm wide seating on side-facing benches. Based on the Kalayaan’s useful 810kg payload and going by the PUV modernization program’s narrower 35cm wide seating standard, the modern Class 1 inner-city jeepney can actually seat one to two more passengers in the rear.

Built by BAIC’s Changhe jointventure with Suzuki Motors of Japan, the Kalayaan featues a license-built clean-burning Euro 4-compliant Suzuki K14B-A 1.4-liter gasoline engine delivering 94hp and 115Nm of torque. And the engine’s conventional valvetrain, eschewing the K14B’s Variable Valve Timing (VVT) option, could translate to easier, less complicated maintenance.

The Kalaayan jeepney benefits from a semi-forward cabin layout that enhances its handling as well as its enginecooling characteristics. Putting the driver behind the front wheel axle line (instead of above it like on cab-over trucks) makes for a more stable and comfortable driving position. The engine is set back to an under-seat location, improving the vehicle’s front-rear weight balance, while the radiator is positioned up front under the hood directly in the airflow’s path to eliminate overheating issues that afflict designs with radiators beneath the driver.

Another distinction of the Kalayaan jeepney is its body-onframe single-body construction. Unlike modular two-box implementations with the front cabin and the rear body separately bolted down to the chassis-frame, the Kalayaan features front and rear cabin compartments that are welded together into a single body. This contributes to the body’s overall rigidity, making the Kalayaan resistant to body twisting and delivering greater stability that’s critical on the modern jeepney with its mandatory high ceiling and consequently higher center of gravity.

BAIC Philippines AVP for corporate communication Honeymae Limjap says the 12-seater Kalayaan jeepney was developed explicitly to list at around P600,000 in its base configuration. She adds that operators can expect to spend another P50,000 for the CCTV cameras, GPS tracker and BEEP payment system being mandated for modernized jeepney franchises.