A beige brown Shanghai Maple Haiyu sedan, seen in central Beijing in 2015. The old Maple was a bit dirty and dusty but otherwise in a reasonable shape, with the original wheels and with old Tianjin license plates.
The Shanghai Maple brand has a somewhat confusing history. It began in 2000 when the Shanghai motorcycle maker JM Star moved into car making.
To cut some corners they largely based their first car on the Dongfeng-PSA Citroen ZX. Not directly, but by approaching the same suppliers, who were likely happy making a few extra yuan and sold JM Star whatever they wanted. The doors for example are fully interchangeable.
JM Star called their car the Meilu, or pretty deer. It was available in sedan and hatchback form. In 2003 Geely bought the company and renamed it Shanghai Maple Automotive (SMA). Over the next 7 years SMA launched literally dozens of new variants and sub-variants of the Meilu.
The variant we have here is the Shanghai Maple Haiyu sedan, also called Maple M303 also called Haiyu 303. Haiyu (海域) literally means ‘sea area’ but it is translated as territorial waters. That is no coincidence. In the early 00’s it was not uncommon for Chinese automakers to give their cars patriotic names.
Period factory photo. In London no less! (: License plate: 海域303.
Another factory photo. License plate: 华普·M303.
This sort of naming chaos was, and to a certain extend is, very common among Chinese automakers at the time. During my many years writing about Chinese car I have learned it is best to accept the fact that there was chaos and go with the chaos flow, instead of getting frustrated and trying to figure out exactly how and why and when. Because very often there ain’t no answer. It was just how they rolled back then.
The Haiyu debuted in 2004 and was made until 2007. It was available with three engines: an 86 hp 1.3, a 128 hp 1.5, and a 113 hp 1.8. All engines were mated to a 5-speed manual. Sadly, there was no engine badge on this car so I can’t be sure what’s under the bonnet.
The interior was in a pretty bad shape, and messy! The dashboard is almost completely a clone of the Citroen ZX. It is nicely decorated with faux wood panels. The lever is tall with a large knob. The owner added a steering wheel cover and a set of seat covers to protect the original seats. Well, it seems that the seat covers need their own protection now.
The Haiyu was equipped with goodies such as a CD/cassette/radio system, a high-power heating system, and an ABS+EBD brake system.
It was not an unpretty car. My scooter can be seen on the left.
Characters: 上海华普, Shanghai Huapu, Shanghai Maple. The 普 is missing.
The Haiyu sedan had a super cool MAPLE inscription on the boot lid.
Price of the Shanghai Maple Haiyu in 2005 started at 41.900 yuan. That was really not much money for such a large vehicle and initially the Maple brand was somewhat of a success. But problems with production and quality scared consumers away, and in 2010 Geely replaced the Maple brand it with the Englon brand. However, in China brands never really die, and in 2020 Maple made a comeback as a brand for affordable electric cars.
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