Blaire Borough

pre-facelift Borough GX (Australia)

The **Blaire Borough** is a subcompact crossover SUV, produced by Blaire Automotive since 2003. A second generation concept was unveiled in 2012, and is also assembled in new factories in Russia, Thailand, Romania, and Australia

The Borough entered the North American market for the first time in 2015.

## First generation (BB01; 2003-2013)

### **Background**

The first generation Borough was designed by Blaire Brazil Development Center and was based on the Cologne-built European Leo and European Guntrex MPV. Because of this, the project used the Blaire B1 platform.

The Borough was sold solely in South & Central America, and China from 2003-2004 before being introduced Europe and Other Asian Markets from 2005 & onward. Its main competitors were the Taimania Jinzo and Escudo Torre Crossplex. In 2011, cumulative sales reached 600,000.

## Powertrain

### Engine

1.3L Naturally-aspirated I41.5L Turbo-charged I4

## Performance

### Versions & Engines

The Borough was available with three inline-four engines:

* BlaireEco 1.6 L 8v gasoline/ethanol, 91 LB-FT (96 HP)
* G-Tec 2.0 L TCi 8v gasoline/ethanol, 125 LB-FT (136 HP)
* G-Tec 1.3 L TDCi Diesel, 120 LB-FT (110 HP) (export only)

All models up to the GX have front-wheel drive with manual transmission as standard. The 1.5 L model can also receive a five speed automatic transmission (FWD only) or four-wheel drive (manual five speed only). In the latter case, an electronically controlled system automatically engages the rear axle when front wheel spin is detected, and also lets the driver manually engage the rear axle from the dashboard.

### **Mid-cycle Facelift**

    In the end of 2008, a mid-cycle restyling was introduced, which renewed completely the front to bring it closer to then current Blaire lineup, also updated the rear lights, front bumper, and in the interior showed a new dashboard using better quality materials.

GX Models built after 2008 were also offered with optional satnav infotainment systems.

### **Foreign Markets**

Blaire launched the Borough in Europe during 2005, with a limited first batch of 500 units arriving in the first quarter of the year. The announcement was made in December 2005, at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, and the first limited edition versions could be ordered on a dedicated website. After disappointing sales figures in Europe in 2006, during which the Borough only sold 11,000 units against over 100,000 for each of its main competitors, the car was revised in 2008, to make it more suitable to European tastes.

### **India**

The Indian market was among the first few to receive the Borough. The car was being manufactured at Blaire India's Chennai plant, available in four trims (DX, SX, SXS, GX) with the choice of two engine options, 1.3-litre Naturally-aspirated BlaireEcp series petrol engine and 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine. The engines are available with five speed manual and and only the petrol engine was offered with a 5-speed automatic transmission.

### Reception

The Borough was originally unveiled as a concept in 1994 at the Paris Motor Show. Before a production model was unveiled at the 2002 Auto China (Beijing International Automotive Exhibition) to good acclaim, the design was sleek and unique for the time and the concept of a practical small suv built for both city and country peaked the interest of the general public. In later years problems started to arise with complaints of the rear hatch being unpractical as it didn't go down two far making it harder to load things, being too heavy and hard to see out of, and being two difficult to repair, causing people to get it completely replaced. The repair and weight issues would later be resolved with the 2008 revision but the loading and vision problems still stayed with the standard spare tire. Towards the end of the first-generations run sales had dropped dramatically from 2010-2013 since the car had been unchanged for almost 10 years, a lot of the engineering components and technology had become severely outdated compared to its competitors, the Borough was also the last car besides the Guntra to use the B1 platform before its discontinuation in 2014.

## Third generation (BB03; 2021-Present)

Third gen

[[Category:Blaire Automotive Company]]