Daveinchina Spots Mystery Chevy (?) Buick (?) Roewe (?) Qoros (?) In China
Chinese traffic jams are great equalizers: They slow down all cars (except black A6 with flashing lights and a police escort.) Our reader and commenter Daveinchina spotted this car with an odd paintjob on the Hukun Expressway in Songjiang, on the outskirts of Shanghai.
Dave thinks it’s a “new Chevy.” A few email later, he says “I think it’s a Chevy but I really don’t know what it is.” I don’t blame him.
With, for instance, SAIC’s Roewe 950 built on the platform of the Buick Lacrosse, which is rooted in the Opel Insignia, it takes a DNA test to know what is what these days.
Reader Macha says the car is a QOROS, the mystery car company that is a 50:50 joint venture between Chery and Israel Corporation (formerly Quantum LLC) and that has a very German management.
See a prototype? Shoot it. Send it.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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To complicate the vehicle's identity even more, SAIC is reviving the old Shanghai brand, and is reported to be using that brand name on a version of the Roewe 950.
Sorry for not following up on this. I just got into the hospital and had surgery. (broken bone, getting the metal plate removed, bone is healed) This was taken out the window of the taxi I was in. I spotted it way ahead and didn't think I'd get a chance to get a picture. Then we pulled up at the light next to it and I got out my phone/camera fast. The light changed and my smartphone is a bit slow. So some things I noticed, the wheels, those are definitely test mule wheels they looked like a GM product up close. The vehicle is about the size of a Chevy Cruze. The interior was pretty tore up, lots of wires dangling out of the dash, looked like there was lots of different things being tested. There was camouflage all over the top of the dash too. I couldn't see over the windowsill to see the steering wheel, however that even had a cover over it. The car was completely stripped of any brand badges at all. Honestly though I have no clue what it is, while I'm thinking cruze, it could easily be a Buick test mule too. I really wish we had seen it from the front, that would have given me a better idea what it was. I will say this was being tested on a somewhat rainy day in Songjiang new city, it's right outside Shanghai. The driver and passenger didn't really seem to care that I was taking a picture they were to busy smoking. This is not the first test mule I've seen but it's the first one I've ever seen that I couldn't figure out what it was. Also the first one I ever got a picture of. I sure would like to know what it is, Qoros looks plausible but from what I can see of the front profile and what I remember, it's not that car.