FrommCar Design News Chinese design talent dominates in Shanghai By Mark Andrews22 April 2021 Shanghai proved a more relaxed affair than Beijing last year, PR nightmares for Tesla not withstanding, with European OEMs playing second fiddle to a slew of new launches by homegrown talent such as Arcfox, Nio and Xpeng International OEMs have always been in a quandary about how to treat the annual Chinese show which alternates between Shanghai and Beijing. Despite the show’s international moniker there is a dearth of anything substantial in English and international attendees have always been asked to jump through hoops to get through the gates. As a result with a few notable exceptions down the years, OEMs have left the Shanghai show for launches of China-only models or specially stretched-for-China versions of existing cars. This year, with the Shanghai event being the only major show to happen anywhere in the world, caution was thrown to the wind. Image Unavailable, Please Login Nio’s sharp-looking ET7 Despite the requirement of a nucleic acid test to attend, once in the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than the postponed Beijing show – held just seven months ago. While many of the cars on display had already been unveiled in the preceding weeks in both virtual and offline events in China, it was usually the first chance to really see them in the metal. Design-wise the show largely marked the death of the large non-premium saloon outside China. Cars like the Ford Evos and Citroen C5X take over the mantle from what would traditionally have been manufacturers’ largest volume models. Whereas the Edge goes for a straight crossover style, the Citroen has a far more genre-bending shape. Notably though Lincoln unveiled the designed-in-China Zephyr – a concept for a China-only future saloon. Image Unavailable, Please Login Hengchi 4 was just one of nine models launched by the OEM Mortals got their first look at the Audi e-tron GT and Mercedes-Benz EQS. Audi also showed a new concept for an A6 e-tron while Mercedes unveiled the, for the moment, China-only EQB electric SUV. When it comes to electric offerings both seem to be powering away from the Munich-based competition, which, despite the new iX on show has a dearth of models. While Tesla experienced a PR nightmare on Monday with a lady shouting about braking issues from atop a display car roof before being roughly manhandled to the floor, Chinese competitors were basking in glory. Arcfox, Nio and Xpeng all showed Lidar-equipped cars ready to go on sale within the next twelve months. Whereas the Nio ET7 takes on a sleek more traditional saloon shape, albeit with tiny cat’s ears for the Lidar sensors, the other two take a different approach. Most noticeably the Arcfox αS blends a saloon with a crossover. The Xpeng P5, while referred to as a saloon, is also a high-rider thanks to being based on the same platform as the company’s first model – the G3 crossover. Image Unavailable, Please Login Geely’s new Zeekr brand showed off the stunning 01 Continuing the recent trend, there was no shortage of new brands from both familiar names and some new to the car industry. Geely’s new Zeekr brand had the stunning 001 which they refer to as a shooting brake. Hengchi, from the Evergrande conglomerate, for the first time publicly showed its cars – all nine of them! IM the new joint venture between SAIC and Alibaba showed off its first production car the smart looking L7 saloon along with a concept for the second model the LS7 SUV. In addition there was the Airo driverless concept complete with futuristic charger designed by Heatherwick Studios. Image Unavailable, Please Login A protestor on the Tesla stand just prior to removal For all the headlines Tesla makes in China the true king of sales is the diminutive Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. Not to be outdone they upped the cute factor with a cabriolet version. And with China being the largest by volume market for EVs the show really belonged to the Wuling’s realm.
If the wheelbase is short enough, it could be a competitor to the SmartCar Cabrio. All the best, Andrew.
And now for something [completely] different: the Hong Qi; in Mandarin means "Chairman Mao Limousine"...or something like that....from the Shanghai International Show. Image Unavailable, Please Login Interesting lace ? motif.....
And in other news, how about a 'Slade w/'30's? Come on, you know you like it! Image Unavailable, Please Login The ride alone has to be worth the price of admission.
Didn't know that BBS was making wheels for tractors! Learn something new everyday on here! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting isn't it that for the most part in the 50s & 60s Ferrari built their road cars to be genuine grand touring cars; fast, stylish, sophisticated, & comfortable; and now the only road car they race is the 488, and many of the rest of the road cars are fitted out with cliches from the track that make them less road worthy and I would argue less sophisticated. It all seems slightly ironic. Clearly they know their clients though as they don't appear to have much trouble shifting as many as they choose to build... I would take issue with your comment "none of their F1 cars were designed as art" and point to the 156 Sharknose as just one example. Asking an Italian to build something without considering its beauty is to go against their genetic makeup. The sports racers they built were almost always good too; 166/212, TR, SWB, GTO, P4 - Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like this is now a reality. To my eye, a mix of the first gen Honda Ridgeline - which we've owned and adored since 2006 for 242K miles - and a Subaru Baja. Could be a nice, inexpensive around-town dog hauler & grocery getter. T
FWIW, the El Camino forum posted a C&D article a few days ago on the Santa Cruz, but the vehicle pictured is not as attractive as the one shown above, especially in the rear roof area. Maybe a difference in model lines or the roof looks better when viewed from the back? Image Unavailable, Please Login https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/g36121856/2022-hyundai-santa-cruz-revealed-gallery/
Is that the Fatty Arbuckle car? If so then it has a lot of importance to this thread. It was a Harley Earl design before his father's Earl Automobile Works was purchased by Don Lee's Cadillac distributorship and became Cadillac only. This is also pre Earl going to General Motors initially on contract for the new line of LaSalle then back to GM to create Art & Colour.
The Fatty Arbuckle car was in St. Louis a few years back being at Hyman Ltd. where we had a club event. A blue purple color with white tires. I am supposed to be doing an interview with one of the staffers for Automotive News about Harley Earl sometime soon for his regular blog. I would love t do an indictment of GM management and their board of directors for not understanding that they desperately need a Harley Earl/Bill Mitchell again with all the power of the fiefdom they had. But, I doubt that Automotive News would let me go too far on that.
First attempt at creating Structural Blue color? Speaking of Fatty Arbuckle, this probably sets the record for front axle to windscreen ratio! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login The Fatty Arbuckle Pierce Arrow that was at Hyman Ltd.