KIWI EV launched in a limited edition Strawberry Bear

The cultural differences from country to country can be vast sometimes, we have different food, we have different customs - what one place considers plain rude, the other may see as just great manners. Cultural differences don’t just apply to food or manners though, they even apply to cars.

What in Europe or the US can be considered an advertising car for a fruit company or movie studio in this case, in China is the latest trend and apparently the coolest. Baojun KIWI EV just launched a limited edition in collaboration with Disney and Pixar using Lotso the Bear as the theme for the vehicle. If you don’t like pink and fluffy toys, you should stop reading this article now. What follows is an absolute overload of pink.

There is only one way to describe this car - delicious. Just looking at it I’m getting a strawberry cheesecake vibe with those little marshmallows on top and tons of cream - yum. On the outside the car is decorated in strawberries, it comes in pale-pink color with very pink mirrors and a pink headlight surround trim.

On the inside it is an onslaught of pink - it is so pink in fact, that it may induce some involuntary reactions from the more conservative audience. It’s not just any pink - it’s the most vibrant tone of it and it is absolutely everywhere - whichever way you turn, there is pink. The headliner, steering wheel, floor mats and the seats come in this psychedelic shade of pink with some off-white thrown in to soften the impact. The dashboard and doors come with a flower design finish, the seat belts come in pale pink and there even is a compulsory coffee cup - with a pink lid.

The driver seat has a giant strawberry embroidered on the headrest, while the passenger gets the Lotso Bear and both seats feature “Mrs Kiwi” embroidered across. The car even gets a dedicated display area in the Baojun showrooms to further magnify its “pinkiness” because the car apparently isn’t pink enough.

On the technical side of things, this is a fairly standard Baojun KIWI EV - 40 kW electric motor working the rear wheels and sipping electro-juice from a 31.9 kWh battery pack. The DJI version is available in this Limited Edition as well, it offers a bit more poke with 50 kW electric motor and according to NEDC its range is 301 km (305 km for the standard version).

Who is this car aimed at? Teenagers? Do teenagers like Toy Story 3 or any Toy Story in that matter? I like it, in fact I probably like it more than my kids do but do I like it enough to spend $15,500? That’s what Baojun is asking for this sweet pink ride and the cultural differences are quite obvious when you realize the company is targeting women with this cute, pink and delicious Strawberry Bear.

If in Europe or the US a car company painted a car pink, called it Strawberry Bear and said it’s been designed for women - we’d have protests breaking out, we’d have people throwing tomato soup and potatoes at the car and the showrooms brave enough to display it. We’d have embargoes, we’d have news channels looking for someone to blame and human rights activists screaming from the rooftops.

In China meanwhile, this is considered funky and chic and groovy and apparently there is a high demand for the car. When people see a tiny strawberry car passing by, they smile and wave and nod their heads with approval.

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