Beijing Auto Show

Report: Beijing Auto Show Dumped Over COVID Restrictions

The organizer of the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition has announced that the show will not go on due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. Though those with a memory longer than that of a goldfish will recall that the event was already postponed in April for that very same reason.  

Read more
Back to Normality: BMW Previews IX3 SUV Ahead of 2020 Launch

It’s been a while since BMW pushed out an all-electric vehicle. The i3 was launched in 2013 and things has been relatively quiet at Bavarian Motor Works ever since. However, the brand maintained that more i-badged vehicles would arrive once it gets EV production costs under control, stating that its next electric would be the iX3 crossover.

Arriving in Beijing this week in concept form, the vehicle looks refreshingly like a production model — with a few stylistic touches separating itself from BMW’s core fleet. You might even mistake it for a refreshed X3, and that’s kind of the point. For the most part, the company’s initial foray into electrification served to test the market’s willingness for such vehicles and act as a bit of a spectacle. That’s not to be the case with the new batch.

BMW wants the upcoming EVs to have more mainstream success than the i3 or i8, and normalizing them is a big part of that. That’s also the reason it chose to base the next one on the high-volume X3.

Read more
Polestar 1 Performance Hybrid Finishes Winter Testing, Heads Southeast for Chinese Debut

Polestar is building the cars Volvo can’t rationalize for its core demographic — high-powered electrics not intended for the general populace. While the brand has tweaked its Swedish autos in the past, Geely’s acquisition of Volvo Cars has seen Polestar evolve into a standalone division with its own unique performance lineup. But its stables are currently empty, at least until Polestar 1 enters into production.

In the interim, the Volvo subsidiary will continue showing the 600-horsepower coupe off to whet the appetites of the global market. That includes the United States because, as of last month, you can preorder one for yourself for $2,500. But production won’t begin in China until next year, and Geely doesn’t want that factory to go to waste. So Polestar will likely trickle out information and multimedia relating to its first model for the entirety of 2018.

This week, we were treated to a video of it attacking a snowy rut during some extreme winter testing inside Sweden’s portion of the Arctic Circle. Interestingly, the car in the video is camouflaged. But we’ve already seen the 2-door sports hybrid uncovered at the Geneva Motor Show — and it just us, or does the Polestar 1 look a little bit like Lincoln persevered with the LS and eventually spawned a coupe variant?

Read more
Lexus ES Sporting Modish Metal for Seventh Generation

The next-generation Lexus ES will debut at the Beijing auto show this month, which is fitting. China knows luxury and appears to be preserving high-end sedans while Americans continue to turn their backs on them in droves.

Domestic sales of the ES have reflected that. But Lexus is launching a sleeker, sexier, and more curvaceous version that will eventually arrive in dealerships across North America. We expect a bump in deliveries, not only because it looks better but because the GS won’t be around for much longer — and middle-aged oral surgeons will need something to bestow onto their children as a first car.

Read more
Buick! (Now That We've Got Your Attention, Let's Head to China)

What country can’t get enough of the Buick brand? Well, not the United States, clearly. But cross the Pacific and Buick is the equivalent of Nicki Minaj and free Coca-Cola and the iPhone X, all rolled into one. Much desirability among the middle-class consumer set.

While we’ve seen some new product on these shores in the past year or so (a new Enclave, Regal, and refreshed Envision are the only things that come to mind), China awaits two wholly new models. One technically isn’t production bound, at least not yet, but you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s a given: A Buick SUV concept — fully electric, and boasting a pretty sexy liftgate — that might have a future on both sides of the Pacific.

Read more
Volkswagen's SUV Concept is Ready for T-Prime Time

Volkswagen unveiled a full-size SUV concept vehicle in Beijing that looks awfully production ready.

The T-Prime Concept GTE introduced at that city’s annual motor show previews the design direction of Volkswagen’s future SUV, revealing an emphasis on elegance and sportiness.

Last week, Volkswagen teased a photo of the concept alongside a list of specifications, leading us to speculate that the vehicle could become a future Touareg. Now, the automaker claims it will offer a vehicle similar to the concept as a new entry in an expanded SUV lineup.

Read more
Face Odyssey: Restyled Lexus IS Unwrapped in Beijing

The refreshed Lexus IS bowed today at the Beijing Motor Show, presenting an even hungrier face than before.

Lexus kept the well-defined proportions of the entry-level sedan intact, but went to town on the front end. The corporate spindle grille now sports a higher cinch point and spacetime-bending three-dimensional mesh.

Read more
Lexus Teases Redesigned IS; Big Ol' Grille Seems Intact

Lexus has redesigned its midsize IS because the styling wasn’t daring enough already.

The updated model was teased in an image released by Lexus ahead of next week’s Beijing Motor Show, where the next IS will be officially unveiled.

Read more
Green Giant: Buick LaCrosse Hybrid Has Smoggy China in Its Sights

The Beijing Motor Show begins next week, but Buick couldn’t wait a minute longer.

At yesterday’s 2016 Buick Day event in Shanghai (was there a parade?), the automaker rolled out its LaCrosse Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), a model tailor-made for the Chinese market.

China loves Buicks, and Buick loves them right back, so much so that the U.S. will get a Chinese-made model this fall. The LaCrosse HEV is part of General Motors’ plan to foist as many vehicles on China as possible.

Read more
Is Volkswagen's Beijing Concept a Touareg Preview?

Volkswagen has teased a plug-in hybrid SUV concept bound for the Beijing Motor Show later this month, but the powertrain numbers are reminiscent of a model recently axed.

From the images provided, the Beijing Concept SUV has flanks far more sculpted than we’re used to seeing from Volkswagen, but it’s in keeping with the brand’s new design language. It’s a large SUV that looks to be of the two-row variety, a niche currently filled by the venerable Touareg.

Read more
Detroit Three Lead The Charge In Chinese SUV Boom
2014 Beijing Auto Show: BMW's "Vision Future Luxury" 9-Series Concept

Few companies are as competitive with each other as the German luxury brands. Now that Mercedes-Benz will be making the S600 Maybach edition of their S-Class fullsize sedan, BMW is responding wtih their own flagship, the Vision Future Luxury concept, introduced at the Beijing auto show on Sunday. Since Vision Future Luxury doesn’t quite fit BMW’s alphanumeric nomenclature, when it goes on sale in 2016, it will likely be known as the 9-Series, though some have suggested that it will revive the 8-Series nameplate or even be the basis of the next 7. The Neuner will be the largest car that BMW offers, with a total length of about 216 inches (5,500 mm), making it about 11 inches longer than even the long wheelbase versions of the 7-Series. Wealthy Chinese prefer to be driven, one reason for the concept’s debut in Beijing.

Read more
2014 Beijing Auto Show: Bentley Mulsanne Hybrid Concept

While the notion of a hybrid car that features a 6.75 liter internal combustion engine might seem a bit oxymoronic to some, rich folks like to demonstrate their environmental bona fides as much as anyone. With so many supercars like the Porsche 918 or the McLaren P1 featuring hybrid powertrains that combine green cred with mind-boggling amounts of total power and torque, high end hybrids have become the automotive version of eating your cake and having it too. Bentley’s new plug in hybrid concept is based on their Mulsanne flagship and they’re featuring it at the 2014 Beijing auto show. It manages to reduce CO2 output by 70% while increasing power by 25% and has a battery-only range of 31 miles (50 km).

Read more
Mulally: New Chinese Escort Could Come to America

While Ford’s new compact Escort sedan was developed by Ford’s Aisa-Pacific R&D team specifically for China, Ford CEO Alan Mulally indicates that the company has more global plans for the car, including the possibility of selling it in the United States. Mulally told Automotive News that the Escort will likely go on sale in other markets besides China. He said that while the company already has the Focus in the stateside C segment, the Escort could allow the company to attract consumers at a new price point in that segment.

Read more
2014 Beijing Auto Show:Lincoln Debuts New MKX Concept Outside U.S., Annouces Chinese Dealers

As part of the launch of its luxury brand in China, the first step in its strategy of making Lincoln into a global brand, Ford Motor Company used AutoChina 2014, aka the Beijing auto show, to debut the next version of Lincoln’s MKX midsize crossover. The reveal of the MKX Concept is the first time that Lincoln has ever introduced a new vehicle outside of the United States, and focus groups in both the United States and China were consulted in the crossover’s design. The new MKX will likely go on sale in both countries sometime in the first part of 2015.

Read more
2104 Beijing Auto Show: Ford Introduces Everest SUV to Chinese Market

While two days after an avalanche killed 13 Nepalese Sherpas on Mount Everest may not be the best time to highlight a vehicle named for the peak, Ford is going ahead with introducing the Everest Concept to the Chinese market at the Beijing auto show. The seven passenger SUV, larger and more expensive than the Kuga and EcoSport crossovers already on sale there, will take the slot at the top of Ford’s utility vehicle offerings in China. The Everest was developed by Ford’s Asia-Pacific design team in Australia and it will be built in China by Jiangling Motors, one of Ford’s joint venture partners there. The Everest Concept was previously shown at last month’s Bangkok Motor Show.

Read more
2014 Beijing Auto Show: Chevy Trax, New Cruze

General Motors used the 2014 Beijing auto show for the world premiere of the next generation Chevrolet Cruze while Shanghai GM launched the Chevrolet Trax, what the brand calls its “new urban SUV”, for the Chinese market. The Trax is Chevy’s version of the Opel Mokka, which is also sold in Buick livery as the Encore. The Encore has done so well in the U.S. market that GM has had to juggle production at its Korean and Spanish plants to keep up with demand. The Trax will eventually come to America, where GM hopes it will repeat the Encore’s success. If it does, some of that success may come at the cost of cannibalizing some Encore sales.

Read more
2014 Beijing Auto Show: Volkswagen Golf R 400 Concept

To show the potential of the new Golf, VW has taken the 290 horsepower, all wheel drive Golf R and turned up the heat on the hot hatch with the Golf R 400 Concept, introduced at the Beijing auto show.

Read more
Beijing 2014: Production-Ready Ford Escort To Debut

After several years of dormancy, Ford revived the Escort name for a concept sedan at last year’s Shanghai Motor Show. That concept is now production-ready, and will make its debut this weekend at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show.

Read more
Citron Bestows First Premium DS Model Upon China

Unveiled at a special event in Paris last week, Citroën’s DS 5LS is the French automaker’s first premium variant of the DS sub-brand. Don’t expect to park this one at the Louvre, however; the DS 5LS is destined solely for the Chinese market.

Read more
Gleanings Of The 2010 Beijing Auto Show: Breasts Draw Reprimand, Ears Cool

Beijing authorities have slapped organizers of the 2012 Beijing Auto Show with a “serious reprimand” for featuring scantily-clad models.

Read more
Gleanings Of The 2012 Beijing Auto Show: Seat Introduces Blondes On A Stick

Volkswagen’s SEAT has been a bit luckless recently. The victim of the Mediterranean malaise seeks to improve its odds by exporting cars to China. Lacking new models to introduce, Seat showcases a new culinary delight: Blondes on a stick.

Read more
Gleanings Of The 2012 Beijing Auto Show: Car Blogging With Chinese Characteristics

When it comes to car blogging, China has long bypassed the rest of the world. Even much larger sites than TTAC look like midgets compared to the Chinese giants. Nothing shows that more drastically than the Beijing Auto Show.

Read more
Gleanings Of The 2012 Beijing Auto Show: Toyota Open To Sub-Brand Suggestions

Toyota will launch a domestically produced plug-in hybrid in China before the year is over and will follow with EVs once certification is completed, said Dong Changzheng, executive vice president of Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., to a small group of reporters at the Beijing Auto Show. The cars will be marketed under a yet to be announced “Chinese” brand.

Read more
Gleanings Of The 2012 Beijing Auto Show: Victimized Media

Sometimes, journalists are in the pockets of people. This time, people are in the pockets of journalists: More than 40 theft cases were reported in the first hours of the 2012 Beijing Auto Show.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Capture The Real Red Flag

So today The Tycho, proprietor of Carnewschina and expert on Mao-era-revival cars, intercepts me at the show and says: “You did it all wrong! You talked about the H7, but showed the L7!”

“I beg your pardon?”

It turns out he was right as usual. In my piece on the Red Flag car, the wrong pictures were added to the wrong text. Corrected. As a make-good, here the ultimate L7/H7 pictorial.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Fiat Viaggio

[INSERT JUVENILE QUIP ABOUT THIS CAR’S NAME AND HOW MUCH IT SOUNDS LIKE ANATOMY]. Just kidding. We’re not that silly. Here’s a look at the Fiat Viaggio aka the Dodge Dart for China.

Read more
Girls Of The 2012 Beijing Auto Show: I'm All Ears

We met at the Volkswagen booth. Ready for take-off.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Not So Mellow Yellow

Audi’s baby-SUV Q3, in “Jinlong Yufeng” dress. Which means “Golden Dragon in the Wind,” or so I am told.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Red Flag, Based On Meatball

Revival of the venerable “Red Flag”: The Hongqi L7.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: What A Dragon

The Jeep was the first American car made in China through a joint venture. Somewhere along the way, Jeep lost it. Jeep is trying to get its moxie back with the “Dragon” design concept.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Chrysler Knows Its Target Group
This time truly imported from Detroit: The Chrysler 300 Ruyi. A 300C, adapted to Chinese tastes. Still called a concept.
Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Porsche Cayenne GTS

Not only does the Volkswagen Group dominate China by market share, it also has its own hall at the Beijing Auto Show.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Lamborghini Unveils 600 Hp Aurochs

So they finally took the wraps off the long anticipated and already much hated Urus, the SUV concept from Lamborghini.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show: Press Causes Monster Traffic Jam

First media day at the Beijing Auto Show. Accredited working press only. Half of Beijing must be accredited, and the other half must be on their way to China International Exhibition Center (New Venue) – that’s what it’s called, no joke – in order to finagle one of those hard to get press passes.

Read more
2012 Beijing Auto Show Preview: Ni Hao From China's Capital

Our man Bertel Schmitt is en route, all set to cover the Beijing Auto Show for the next two days. By our count, there are over 70 debuts, with many of them being Chinese market products; concept cars, older vehicles re-issued and manufactured in Chinese JV factories and obscure concept cars. A complete list, with a brief description can be read at just-auto.com for anyone really interested in the Brilliance Jinbei Large Sea Lion Camper or the HaiMa Yao.

Read more
Ghosn's Two Front China Offensive

The Nikkei [sub] must have been having intimate chats with sources high up in Nissan’s tower at the Yokohama waterfront again.

Prematurely perturbing press people at Nissan, the Tokyo wire reports that a new factory will be constructed in China, and that Infiniti cars will be built at yet another factory in China. In the meantime, Reuters cultivated sources at Renault and says that Renault will finally finalize a deal to produce cars in China.

Read more
Porsche Shows New GTS In Beijing

China is Porsche’s second largest market (behind the U.S.) and most of the Porsches shipped to the Middle Kingdom are Cayennes. No wonder that Porsche will choose the upcoming Beijing Auto Show to present a successor to its brutish GTS.

Read more
Lamborghinis Invade China In Record Numbers

Where would the automotive world be without China. From Daimler to Volkswagen, all send daily prayers east, in the general direction of the Middle Kingdom. (No much aiming precision is needed. It’s a big country.) Even Lamborghini has high expectations. This year, they will sell record numbers of Lambos to China.

Read more
China To Get Handsome Buick GL8 MPV. And The U.S.?

At the Beijing Auto Show, they had a fine-looking and well-appointed Buick MPV, called the “Business Concept” (shown above.) I gave it no mention. After all, who cares about a concept MPV that will never see the light? Big mistake, Schmitt: It will see the light faster that I thought, namely by the end of the year.

Read more
Chinese Won't Let 40 Luxury Cars Go Back Home


As the Beijing motor show draws to an end on Monday, the cars on display will be rolled on car carriers and shipped back home. All except for 40 luxury cars with a combined value of $22m. They have been snapped-up at the show, they will remain in China, and their makers can save the money for the long trip home.

Read more
China's Chery Picks Better Place. Possibly

Shai Agassi’s Better Place possibly clinched a possibly better deal than having three taxis running around in Tokyo. Possibly.

According to the Financial Times, Better Place signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Chery “to develop prototypes for electric vehicles to be used in regional sate-sponsored pilot projects.” This could give Better Place access to what the FT calls “potentially the biggest future market for battery-powered cars.”

The system remains the same: switchable batteries that will be swapped at charging stations faster than you can swap-in the extra battery of your camera. If you can find it. Israel and Denmark are running tests. But these are tiny countries, and this is China.

Read more
Thetruthaboutcars.com At the Heart Of Brewing Intellectual Property Scandal In China

This chair will soon be vacant

Remind me to send a bill to Volkswagen for propaganda services rendered. Maybe I can use my old Lieferantennummer. (Supplier’s Number.) Otherwise, TTAC and your humble BS would be ripped off left and right.

Read more
What's Wrong With This Mustang?
Sure Mitsuoka is a weird company, with a penchant for changing somewhat-boring modern cars into profoundly quirky tributes to classic designs. For example…
Read more
What's Wrong With This Picture: The Limits Of The Honda Motor Company Brand Edition
Yes Howie Long, Honda has managed to sell everything from lawnmowers and mopeds to cars and jets under the same brand name for decades, without ever damaging…
Read more
TTAC At The Beijing Auto Show. Day Two
TTAC Exclusive:
The cars, the girls, the generals, and the news of the Beijing Motor Show

Day two of the Beijing Auto Show. It’s a Saturday morning, traffic is supposed to be light (by Beijing standards) – but boy are we wrong. The roads are clogged. All traffic flows north, towards the fairgrounds. Again, this is the second day for accredited media only. Yesterday, when we left the show, there were lots of traders offering money for the press passes. Which they resold to waiting customers for a hefty mark-up. The take was quickly put in circulation, and all of Beijing is headed to the show. Come along

Read more
TTAC At The Beijing Auto Show. Day One

918 M Spyder at the Beijing Motor Show. Picture courtesy Bertel Schmitt

TTAC Exclusive: The cars, the girls, and the news at the Beijing Motor Show

Media day at the Beijing Auto Show. Had to get up at 6am to get from downtown Beijing to the new fairgrounds. Had to experience my first Beijing rush hour. Usually, I walk to the office. One flight of stairs down. Barely got to the fair on time for the press registration before 9am. Here is Friday’s pictorial.

Read more
Beijing Auto Show: Chinese Luxury Wars Heat Up As German Brands Push Stretch Appeal

As Bertel Schmitt has exhaustively documented, the Chinese luxury car market is hot fire right now. By 2015, luxury sales are expected to quadruple to 2m annually, making China the most important growth market in the world for brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Having landed early, thanks to Volkswagen’s pioneering presence in the Chinese market, Audi is the king of Chinese luxury car brands, and isn’t showing any signs of quitting. And though 77 percent sales growth last quarter is nothing to sneeze at, longer-term trends show Audi’s market share sinking inexorably as its rivals fight hard for a toehold in the lucrative Chinese luxury game. According to BusinessWeek, Audi’s Chinese market share has skidded more than 20 percentage points since 2004, falling from a dominant 66 percent to a mere 42 percent last year. Can BMW and Mercedes continue to make gains? The only certainties are that they will try, and it won’t be easy.

Read more
Beijing Auto Show: BMW Chases The Four-Door Coupe Niche
While its German rivals pour into the burgeoning four-door premium coupe segment, BMW has been busy exploring the premium five-door GT segment. With its comp…
Read more
Beijing Auto Show: Hyundai Lets Its Accent Show
Several Chinese sites have caught shots of the next-generation Hyundai Accent just prior to its reveal at the Beijing Auto Show. Styling-wise, the Accent a…
Read more
Beijing Auto Show: GM Previews Volt MPV5 Concept
Look everyone, it’s a Chevy Volt that can seat more than four people! Official images of the Volt MPV5 concept have leaked today , confirming what rec…
Read more
Foreign Car Makers Start A Building Boom In China

While all eyes are on the Beijing Auto Show, which starts by the end of this week, manufacturers are looking at plots of land and architect plans for new plants. According to The Nikkei [sub], carmakers are adding capacity to keep up with the ravenous appetite of the world’s largest car market.

Foreign carmakers don’t seem to be in a mood to exit, or to be squeezed out of this market anytime soon. According to the Nikkei, their building plans are “in response to the growing prominence of Chinese automakers.”

Read more
Maybach's Last Gasp
We all knew this day was coming. We knew that Maybach would receive one final facelift before disappearing in a puff of garish pretentiousness. And really, w…
Read more
Facelifted Phaeton Emerges In Beijing, Armed To The Teeth

Volkswagen confirmed today that reports of a facelifted Phaeton are true. Tomorrow and on Saturday, the press can admire the car at the Beijing Autoshow. From April 27 to May 2, the remaining 1.3b Chinese will be able to get a first look, and decide whether the car fits in their purchasing plans.

Eight years after the Phaeton was launched in Germany with great fanfare, and four years after it was pulled from the US market due to being a resounding sales flop, a face-lift has been long overdue. “Usually, one would expect a whole new generation after eight years in production,” complained Germany’s Focus Magazine. Not a whole lot has changed at the outside. But the on-board electronic weaponry has been escalated to a level that soon will put JSTARS to shame.

Read more
What's Wrong With This Picture: BAIC Designers Take A Saabatical Edition
Having acquired Saab’s old 9-3 and 9-5 platforms, Beijing Auto is wasting little time in putting the old Swedish warhorses back into action. In fact, i…
Read more
Beijing Auto Show Preview

Like it or not, more and more car makers elect to premiere their newest creations not at the IAA in Frankfurt, or the Detroit Auto Show, but in China. What do you expect with China being the world’s largest car market, and growing like gangbusters. TTAC will cover the Beijing Auto Show on press days of April 23 and 24. With daily posts, helped by the fact that China is not only ahead in sales, it’s also 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.

Here is a short random preview, gleaned from various posts on Chinese websites.

Read more