As Korean automaker Ssangyong considers a Jeep Wrangler rival as a launching point for gaining a foothold in the U.S., Chinese automaker BAIC already has a Wrangler competitor in its lineup, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks pretty close in design to the real thing.

The Beijing Auto BJ40, as it is called, is saddled with a 2.4-liter gasoline engine making just 143 hp and 160 lb-ft of torque. But according to CarNewsChina, the 4x4 will soon receive a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that its parent company, BAIC, got from GM's fire sale of Saab parts bin items in 2009, along with the Saab 9-3 and Saab 9-5 platforms.

The BJ40C, which recently made an appearance at the Shanghai motor show, has been spotted in development form with signs denoting a 2.0-liter turbo engine under the hood, the engine that was offered in the Saab 9-3 until the end of production. CarNewsChina reports that BAIC planned to use this engine at the time of the updated 4x4's launch in 2013, but could not make it work at the time. The turbocharged 2.0-liter has now reportedly been testing in the small SUV, and will be paired with a five-speed manual transmission when it goes on sale later in the year.

The Saab-engined BJ40 is expected to debut at the Chengdu motor show during the first week of September, though the 4x4 itself has been stuck in development for the past five years, having made its first appearance all the way back in 2009. BAIC recently made the news for another iconic SUV clone, having created a Mercedes-Benz G-wagen lookalike while in a partnership with Mercedes-Benz itself, drawing the latter's ire.

And what of the main carcass of Saab itself? National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the Chinese investor-backed company that acquired the main assets of Saab in 2012 has acquired two new business partners in the process of establishing a new factory in Tianjin, China.

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