Saab’s Ghost To Haunt The Beijing Motor Show
Just when you thought that the sad ending of Saab was finally done, it looks like some of the brand’s GM-influenced models will be reborn under the Beijing Automotive Industry brand. Three models, including one based on the former Saab 9-5 and two based on the former 9-3, are expected to be exhibited at next April’s Beijing Motor Show.
Left Lane News tells us that Beijing Automotive’s range will include two sedans and a compact SUV, all of which will use Saab’s old platforms. Since the Chinese company doesn’t also own the rights to Saab’s exterior styling, expect the cars to look a bit different than their former Swedish cousins did. Read more…
Categories: Beijing Auto Show, Beijing Motor Show, Saab Tags: Beijing, Ghost, Haunt, Motor, Saab’s, Show
Beijing Motor show 2010: Ford Start concept
As we were checking out the new Ford Start concept at the Beijing Motor Show, we ran into the head of Ford’s advanced studio in California, Freeman Thomas, and the mini car’s lead exterior designer, Jeff Nield.
According to Nield, he wanted to create a vehicle that retained elements of Ford’s “Kinetic Design” language while at the same time create something more subdued, able to stand apart from the noise surrounding the show. Thus the Start has a cleaner simpler shape that’s slightly more serious than past concepts. Nield mentioned the Mini and how it’s always had a cute, happy demeanor about it. He wanted to create something different – a thing of beauty injected with very natural, organic elements.
Thomas explained that the designers wanted to experiment with a hybrid construction consisting of a mix of aluminum, high strenght steel and composites. This allowed the creation of a very open, airy cockpit, with thin pillars for good visibility, while also providing occupants a feeling of safety with the high belt line.
Categories: Auto Show, Beijing Motor Show, Concept Cars, Ford Tags:
Beijing 2010: BMW surprises with Concept Gran Coupé
Four-door coupes are nothing new these days, what with vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz CLS and Volkswagen CC proving that these stylish sedans do, in fact, have a place in the automotive world. What’s more, Audi’s swoopy A7 is nearing its final stages of development, and higher-end coupe-sedans like the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera have indeed caught our attention in recent months. BMW is now jumping on that train, and the automaker has officially debuted its Concept Gran Coupé at this year’s Beijing Motor Show.
Strip away the rear doors, and the design of the Gran Coupé is awfully close to what we’ll see on the next-generation 6 Series. The sporty, flat design of the concept is really stunning, and BMW points out that the Gran Coupé is actually 100 millimeters (four inches) flatter than both the 5 and 7 Series sedans. Combine that with frameless doors and LED lighting all around and what we have here is a rather stunning design.
Categories: Auto Show, Beijing Motor Show, BMW, Concept Cars, Coupe Tags:
Beijing Motor Show 2010: Mitsuoka Galue Convertible is all kinds of wrong
If ever there was proof that just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should, it’s Mitsuoka Motors. Case in point – the Mitsuoka Galue Convertible, which we’ve finally gotten to see in person here in Beijing. Sadly, we cannot un-see it. Why anyone would take a perfectly serviceable contemporary Mustang convertible and transform it into this is beyond us. Then again, this is the same company that created the Orochi.
The Galue ‘vert’s front end apes an older Bentley while the tail is lifted straight off a late-1990s Cadillac DeVille. It’s all terribly wrong in so many ways. Just be happy that we’ve opted to spare you the sea monster-like Orochi, which was sitting on an adjacent turntable. It was so awful that the unfortunate model standing next to it collapsed from embarrassment.
Categories: Auto Show, Beijing Motor Show, Convertible Tags:
Beijing Motor Show 2010: Geely Emgrand GE plug-in hybrid limo
Another entry that Geely has planned for its new Emgrand premium sub-brand is the GE limousine. Like many of Geely’s new models, the GE has a very prominent grille but the rest of the design looks otherwise well-proportioned and attractive. With a 214-inch body sitting on a 124-inch wheelbase, the GE is a big car targeted at executives who prefer to be driven rather than get behind the wheel. The Geely Emgrand GE can be equipped with either a rear bench contoured for two passengers or a single large seat flanked by extra storage compartments.
Underneath, the GE has the same plug-in hybrid powertrain featured in the GT coupe. That means it gets a 2.4-liter inline-four that producing 160 horsepower and 165 pound-feet of torque. The electric drive consists of a pair of 27.5 kilowatt, 132 pound-foot hub-motors for all-wheel-drive capability. The GE is targeted for 2015 introduction.
Categories: Auto Show, Beijing Motor Show, Concept Cars, Hybrid Tags:
Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Break Concept revealed ahead of 2010 Beijing Motor Show
Mercedes-Benz may not have invented the idea of a “four-door coupe” with the original CLS back in 2005, but the German automaker can surely be credited with the recent influx of such designs from automakers as varied and far-ranging as BMW, Jaguar and Hyundai. As such, you can be sure that Mercedes is keenly interested in reinventing the look it made so popular in the first place so as to differentiate itself from its competitors.
As we reported late last month, it seems likely that Mercedes-Benz will use the upcoming Beijing Motor Show to preview its next-gen CLS, along with the introduction of what appears to be a production-ready shooting break design. While the moniker is more often spelled ‘shooting brake,’ MB is keen to point out that the correct spelling is ‘break,’ as in breaking a horse that draws a carriage. Whatever the name, we’re liking what we see from this concept.
Categories: Beijing Motor Show, Concept Cars, Wagon Tags:
2010 Beijing Motor Show Preview: Geely reinvisions London’s iconic taxi with its Englon TXN
Geely may be content to let Volvo do its thing without any apparent outside intervention (at least for now), but the Swedish brand’s new parent company apparently has its heart set on unleashing a wave of taxis on England. A set of renderings just hit the web featuring a freshly designed taxi rolling through London. Called the Englon TXN, the car is slated for an official unveil at the Bejing Motor Show at the end of this month.
Details are scarce at the moment, but the car’s design takes a modern spin on the classic look of the old British taxis. While the exterior shots almost look to be Photoshop creations, the interior pictures appear to be the real deal, and it features a rather nifty driver-centric cockpit.
Categories: Beijing Motor Show, Concept Cars, Sedan Tags:
2010 Beijing Motor Show:2011 Audi A8 L arrives with 500-hp W12, seating for a king-maker
Audi is pulling out its biggest gun yet for the Beijing Motor Show, and while the big news for the A8 L might be the 6.3-liter W12 and the sedan’s longer wheelbase, it’s the rear seat accommodations that have us frothing at the mouth.
Seriously, just look at it.
With an overall length of nearly 17 and a half feet, the A8 L is almost a half-foot longer than its standard sibling, with a wheelbase of 10.24 feet. Those extra inches are put to good effect, with an interior that’s enough to make a Maybach look downright spartan.
Open the lengthened rear doors and occupants are greeted by acres of leather, a full-length center console and two power-adjustable, heated and ventilated seats that not only move fore and aft, but include adjustments for cushion depth, lumbar support and seat back angle. Ten remote-controlled air-bladders massage your cares away, and if the front passenger seat – with its power-adjustable folding ottoman – cramps your style, you can move it forward with the flick of a switch.
Categories: Audi, Beijing Motor Show, Sedan Tags:
2010 Beijing Motor Show:Build your own Ferrari 599 GTO
What do you get when you start with a 599 GTB Fiorano, lose 430 pounds, add 49 horsepower and import street-legal tech from the track-only 599XX? The sum of those many marvelous parts is the 599 GTO, the fastest road-going Ferrari in the automaker’s legendary history.
The folks in Maranello unleashed it’s king Horse to the public earlier this week before its official unveiling next month at the Beijing Motor Show, with the promise to build precisely 599 examples carrying the venerable GTO designation. The good news is Ferrari created a vehicle configurator that lets you customize your 599 GTO to your heart’s content. The bad news: at an estimated $460,000, most of us couldn’t afford it.
Categories: Beijing Motor Show, Ferrari Tags:
Geely set to reveal modified Rolls-Royce aping limousine in 2010 Beijing Motor Show
Never underestimate the power of a nose job. After getting in hot water with Rolls-Royce for the design of its GE limousine, Geely Automobile has reworked the majority of the car into what you see above. The Chinese automaker originally unveiled the GE at the 2009 Shanghai Motor Show, and the car looked like it had raided the Spirit of Ecstasy’s wardrobe before hitting the stage. The engineers at Rolls-Royce were not amused, and threatened legal action unless the car underwent serious alterations.
Presumably in response to the Rolls dust-up, Geely has fitted the GE Limousine with an all-new nose, complete with a massive baleen grille and grinning headlights. The interior has also gone under the knife, and as a result, you’ll no longer find a single throne in the rear. The company has opted for a much more traditional two-bucket design out back.
Categories: Beijing Motor Show, Sedan Tags:
