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CHINESE carmakers have embraced the future in their own wild, wacky way in Beijing, rolling out a suite of concept vehicles potentially one day destined for the world’s largest new-car market – right on their doorsteps.
The ideas ranged from flagship limousines to city-smart commuter cars designed for Chinese, and not world, tastes. And as always, there’s always something a little quirky in the mix.
Here’s our pick of the 2018 Beijing Motor Show; the cars we’re likely to never see, the ones we might, and the ones that shouldn’t have been there at all.
BEIJING AUTO BJ80 6×6
Beijing Auto bought the rights to build the Saab 2.0-litre and 2.3-litre turbo engines off GM following the Swedish brand’s painfully drawn-out collapse. This monster is believed to use the bigger 190kW-odd donk, mounted transversely and sending its economical dollop of performance to all six wheels.
BYD E-SEED
BYD announced that it would open up its DiLink platform to the world’s developers to work on – a claimed groundbreaking move for the automotive industry.
HONGQUI E-JING GT CONCEPT
No details exist on what powers the E-Jing GT, but the lack of a grille on the slab-nosed Rolls-Royce front (bookended in a sweeping Bentley-esque rear) hints at electric power rather than traditional fossil fuels. We should add the Hongqui bears absolutely no resemblance to the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6. At all.
HYBRID KINETIC GROUP K350, H500
JETOUR X70
Details are sparse, but there’s a claimed 500km range and down the rear, the tail-lights are shaped like lightning bolts. Lightning bolts! What’s not to like?
MG X-MOTION CONCEPT
MG has a habit of launching and proving cars in its domestic market before rolling them out to overseas markets. The brand still has a big design and development presence in UK, so we can guess a right-hook version could one day make its way here.
SITECH DEV1
Looking remarkably like an iMiEV, its 55kW/170Nm DEV1 production car is a low-cost solution for crowded cities. It’ll run for around 150km before needing a powerpoint.
WEY X
Its party trick is being able to recognise your face as you walk up to it, and then set the seat and radio station to the ones you like.
ZEHJIONG-GEELY BORUI GE
