Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Economy, China, Crossovers/CUVs, Hatchbacks
Detroit 2008: The Return of ChangFeng!
click above to view more images of the ChengFeng Leopard and Kylin
ChangFeng Motors was here last year and made the familiar claim that its Chinese cars would soon be on sale in the U.S. The Chinese automaker made the pilgrimage to Detroit again this year and was welcomed with open arms by Carl Galeana, Chairman of the North American International Auto Show, and Wayne County Councilman Robert Ficano. The warm greeting between these officials and ChangFeng Chairman Li Jianxin is proof positive that Michigan is looking to China for a way out of its economic slump.
Big ups to Chairman Li who abandoned the comfort and familiarity of his native tongue to tackle a three-page speech in English, though it was unfortunately for naught as we couldn't understand a single word he said. Thankfully we happened upon a transcript of the speech so we could tell you about these two vehicles shown by ChangFeng at the show.
The first is the Leopard CS6, the design of which we actually like because it was not only designed by famed Italian firm Pininfarina, but it also bears a slight resemblance to a Hyundai Santa Fe, one of the prettier CUVs on the market. ChangFeng says it's built on the Pajero V Series platform, presumably sourced from Mitsubishi. We think it has all-wheel-drive or, as the Chinese translate it, a "full driven system". That gives the CS6 "the perfect combination of military industry performance and urban fashion." Indeed.
The other car shown by ChangFeng today was the Kylin, which is already on sale in Japan. The five-door wagon isn't very attractive, but it's chassis was tuned by Lotus, so it's got that going for it. Powered by a 1.8L Mitsubishi engine, the little car is economical and might actually be fun to drive if it were ever sold here.
There's the rub, though. Last year when ChangFeng debuted in Detroit it claimed it would be selling cars in the U.S. soon. Today we got the same speech, just one year later with little visible progress made in the interim.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Throwback 2:43PM (1/14/2008)
Please put a disclaimer above these pictures, " may induce loss of lunch"
Thank you
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jgp 2:45PM (1/14/2008)
Tuned by Lotus with Mitsubishi parts?
Sounds like a group of ChangFeng employees went down south to Malaysia, stole a fleet of Protons, drove 'em back up to China, and put custom bodies on them.
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Evotec 2:47PM (1/14/2008)
"might actually be fun to drive if it were ever sold here."
The fun ends when you crash that thing....
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Alex 2:57PM (1/14/2008)
"ChengFeng Motors was ... welcomed with open arms by Carl Galeana, Chairman of the North American International Auto Show"
Does that mean that Carl let them have a spot on the main concourse, or are they still relegated to the basement with the obscure?
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Whitie 6:10PM (1/14/2008)
The Chinese will display their products on the main floor the NAIAS the year after they buy Cobo Hall.
Guenther 3:00PM (1/14/2008)
I have to wonder- obviously different things look good to different cultures- Does this look good to Chinese people????
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I_Hate_China 3:08PM (1/14/2008)
Yes. Because Chinese people don't have much experience with automobile. Chinese auto engineers don't own cars either.
Big Rocket 3:39PM (1/14/2008)
Guenther @ Jan 14th 2008 3:00PM wrote: "I have to wonder- obviously different things look good to different cultures- Does this look good to Chinese people????"
The Leopard CS6 must look good to Italian people. It was "designed by famed Italian firm Pininfarina," according to Autoblog.
Harajoshi 3:01PM (1/14/2008)
The headlamps are 1:1 copied from the 5-series. I thought asians have "honor"...
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Big Rocket 3:30PM (1/14/2008)
I_Hate_China @ Jan 14th 2008 3:09PM wrote: "Japanese have honor. Chinese don't."
Shame on you and your naked racism!
James 5:30PM (1/14/2008)
wow, that's some ridiculous racism there. besides the point, but if japanese had "honor", they'd admit to their wrongdoings in WWII.
harajoshi, i think all nascent industries tend to copy each other until they establish their own "design" through experience. this can be seen in all young car companies, not to mention other products such as cell phones (they all looked the same when they were big as bricks, and also when they became generic flip phones).
David 10:49PM (1/16/2008)
Koreans and Japaneses have Honor
I_Hate_China 3:12PM (1/14/2008)
If that thing is based on 1991 Pajero V, then it will crash like Landwind did. In other word, a no show in the US.
Interior looks cheap even by Chinese standard.
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Billy Schaefer 3:25PM (1/14/2008)
Looks like an Audi Q7 front end copy and a bad one at that.
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RPM 3:30PM (1/14/2008)
This car looks like a mini Audi Q7. But of course let make fun of it because its Chinese. Imagine if this had a BMW or Mercedes logo on it, everyone here would be saying how original and perfect the design is.
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Aaron 3:35PM (1/14/2008)
nope, I'd say while the exterior design is passable, the interior looks like cheap, shiny hard plastic reminiscent of early 90's low-end imports like the Colt or early Kias.
Big Rocket 3:37PM (1/14/2008)
Harajoshi @ Jan 14th 2008 3:01PM wrote: "The headlamps are 1:1 copied from the 5-series. I thought asians have 'honor'..."
You are refering to the Leopard CS6, right? Because I can almost swear, Autoblog already stated, "the Leopard CS6... designed by famed Italian firm Pininfarina..." If you want to blame any elements of plagiarism on the Leopard CS6, then do it right, and blame it on Pininfarina.
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Tagg 3:37PM (1/14/2008)
With a name like "I Hate China" I can see what kind of honor you have.
I really enjoyed talking with the Cheng Fang workers at the booth last year. They were better prepared than the peabrain working the Subaru booth who just wanted my personal info to send crap to. They had a real passion for the industry which made it alot of fun to talk cars with them.
To see prejudice veiws that slander a group the few know anything about while acting in way that we are so great is pretty sad. I believe the Japanese, Koreans, and others have copied various parts of other automakers and still do. Yet they are given a pass while Chinese automakers are routinely slammed for being inferior despite many (Chery being one) only being business for 10 years.
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Xcountryflyer 3:49PM (1/14/2008)
Looking at the interior--you can tell the quality isn't that great. They must already be working with Chrylser.
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Big Rocket 3:53PM (1/14/2008)
John Neff: In your Autoblog article, you wrote, "click above to view more images of the ChengFeng Leopard and Kylin", and you made repeated mention of the "Leopard CS6". However, in the gallery, there are only two vehicles, the Liebro CS7, and the Kylin. When you said Leopard CS6, were you really referring to the Liebro CS7, or was there a third vehicle not shown in the gallery? Thanks for any clarification.
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