The most significant Chinese cars of the Beijing motor display
More than twenty million cars were bought in China last year, making it the largest automotive market in the world. With so much money to be made, it’s unsurprising that many car makers build vehicles specifically for the East Asian market.
Below, we run through the key China-focused cars on display at this year’s Beijing motor showcase.
Likely to launch next year, the Hongqi Concept B previews a car which will rival with the spread BMW three Series and Audi A4. Hongqi claims the front resembles a Chinese lion while inwards, it features a futuristic front digital panel with digitised sunflowers – one of the symbols associated with the brand. Engine options are likely to include a Two.0-litre turbo and a PHEV variant.
Sitting inbetween the Audi Q5 and Q7 size-wise, this SUV is more attractive than its sibling, the LS5, which is now injecting production. Engine choices are likely to include a Two.0-litre turbo and Trio.0-litre V6 when production starts in two years time. The company says the interior echoes luxury first-class airline accommodation; it includes a front passenger seat that doubles as a foot rest for rear occupants.
The Trumpchi brand began from modest beginnings, with a model based on the Alfa Romeo 166. Helped by bold designs and rapidly improving quality, it has since grown into one of the few credible offerings from the large state-owned manufacturers.
The GS8 is the largest SUV in the brand’s line-up; it comes with a Two.0-litre turbo engine and, unusually for China, an auto stop-start system. Featuring adaptive cruise control and linkability with both Apple Carplay and Baidu Carlife, the seven-seater has a distinctive face thanks to LED headlights and masculine grille.
The car is expected to export to the Middle East, where the Trumpchi range is already available.
With the latest boom in incentives for electrified cars in China, this is the latest in a row of electrified vehicle manufacturers bringing models to market. This tall supermini is the very first in a range which will also include commercial vehicles. Suggesting a range of one hundred twenty five miles, the model comes in two sizes – the larger version is just over four metres long.
Chery has exposed an electrical car concept at the Beijing motor display – the FV2030. The name and wacky styling – both inwards and out – suggest that the concept is purely experimental and exploratory, but its crossover form and electrical powertrain are timely; suggesting it may preview an upcoming EV crossover from Chery.
LeEco, whom you may know from their work with Aston Martin on the upcoming RapidE electrified vehicle, and sharing a co-founder with Faraday Future, has brought its own Tesla Model S rival to the Beijing motor showcase; the LeSEE – brief for Super Electrical Ecosystem. unveiled the LeSEE, an electrical sedan that LeEco is positioning as a Tesla Model S challenger. Few details are known about the car, but it has been built with autonomous technology in mind; the steering wheel folds away and screens suggest in-car entertainment for passengers.
LeEco hopes to commence producing the LeSEE in a few years in a Las Vegas plant, run by its playmate Faraday Future, with cars intended for both US and Chinese markets.
Senova, an offshoot of the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., has shown the OffSpace SUV concept to the Beijing motor display, which previews a fresh large SUV that will be launched on the Chinese car market in late 2017.
IAT-Auto has shown this SUV concept at the Beijing motor display with extreme angular styling, diamond-shaped windows and hefty tyres. At six meters long, details are sparse on this eccentric-looking concept. IAT Auto began life in 2002, but didn’t emerge in public until the two thousand ten Beijing motor showcase, when it announced three concept cars. These included a gullwinged, compact coupé called the Wu Feng II, which was claimed to have a top speed of 124mph and a 0-62mph time of 7sec.
Geely has gained momentum i n the past few years , with its GC9, launched at last year’s Shanghai display, being named China Car of the Year for 2016.
The GS resumes the fresh design language, this time in the form of a compact SUV. Engine choices are presently a 1.3-litre turbo with 131bhp and an older 1.8-litre naturally aspirated unit. Under the Blue Geely Initiative – the manufacturer’s drive to fresh energy vehicles – a plug-in hybrid version can be expected within the next year. Set to be exported, it might make it to Europe.
This is the 2nd all-electric car from Warren Buffett’s attack on the electrified car industry. While no Tesla, BYD’s very first electrified car, the e6, has found use as a taxi in many cities around the world (including London). The Qin was originally a plug-in hybrid and repackages the e6’s electrical technology into a more practical car for the masses. With a claimed range of one hundred ninety miles, prices embark at around £26,000 before green subsidies. This car stands a real chance of fulfilling BYD’s long-promised break into Western markets.
Originally a German manufacturer which closed in the 1960s, the Borgward name has been revived by BAIC.
Albeit still a prototype, the BX7 is primed for production, targeted at the upper mid-sized SUV market. The seven-seat, Four.7m long model features a permanent all-wheel drive system, plug-in hybrid technology, and what Borgward claims is “the latest in communications and entertainment systems”. Its plug-in hybrid system, comprising of an internal combustion engine and electrical motor, gets 254bhp.
It’s no secret things haven’t been going according to plan for Qoros. Despite producing well-engineered, essentially German cars in China, they’ve struggled to sell. Meantime, European sales, apart from the Slovakian test market, have failed to materialise.
We expected a crossover version the Qoros three saloon at the showcase, but unexpectedly, it was electrical too. Range is said to be almost two hundred twenty miles achieving 0-62mph in 7.9secs. Production is due in2017 but it’s unlikely it’ll brings us any closer to full-blown European sales.
Beijing Auto electrified supercar
Chinese car giant Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) has unveiled its all-electric supercar concept, called the ArcFox-7, at the Beijing motor display. The car is expected to go on sale later this year. The electrified supercar concept goes after hot on the high-heeled shoes of the similar Beijing-based Techrules’ AT96 supercar, which produces 1030bhp from an electrified motor and a range-extending turbine.
This supercar concept will go from 0-60mph in less than Three.0sec, and has a top speed of 162mph. Battery range is also relatively long at one hundred eighty six miles – less than the Tesla’s Model S’s reported two hundred fifty mile range, but significantly more than the Techrules AT96’s range of ninety three miles. At 4570mm in length, 2040mm in width, and with a height of 1214mm, BAIC’s electrical supercar concept is the same length, 90mm broader, and 14mm higher than a Ferrari 458. Its wheelbase is 2800mm, which makes it 14mm longer than the 458.
The car will feature three driving modes, which are Economy, Convenience, and Race. These driving modes adjust the rail height of the car, with a ground clearance of 120mm in Economy mode, 100mm in Convenience mode, and 80mm in Race mode. The model was designed and developed in Barcelona at BAIC’s R&D centre, and was inspired by Formula E racing cars.
The Roewe RX5 is China’s response to the MG GS . Both are due to go on sale in their respective markets later this year. Power comes from either a 1.5-litre or Two.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. More details are skinny on the ground, but Roewe says the RX5’s wheelbase is longer than 2700mm. Roewe began life as the intellectual property brought in the aftermath of the Rover collapse. Parent company SAIC possesses the MG brand, and many cars suggested by the two marques are closely aligned.
At the two thousand eleven Shanghai display, one of the big stories was the creation of China-only brands by joint ventures, which are treated favourably by the government. Venucia, created by Dongfeng Nissan, has been one of the most successful.
While it commenced off using old Nissan designs, the latest T90 is based on the current Murano. With X6-like SUV coupé styling, it is due to go on sale in China in October. Power is likely to come from a Two.5-litre petrol or Two.5-litre hybrid.
Along with Fine Wall, Geely and BYD, Chery was once one of the best-selling Chinese brands. Sales, however, have fallen and the company largely survives on handouts from the local government.
Formerly known as the Chery T15, the SUV’s engine choices are likely to be 1.5-litre and Two.0-litre petrol units, when it goes on sale in China in October. Chery will need to gravely improve its quality if it is to rejoin the big league, particularly when it comes to interiors.