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Click above for a high-res gallery of the Linian concept
Last Summer, we told you how Guangzhou Honda planned to develop a separate, China-only brand. Today in Beijing, the first step in that direction is on display in the form of the Linian concept. Specifics are hard to come by, but according to Autoblog Chinese, the car here is representative of what we can expect to see when the new spinoff brand launches in 2010. Look for a full range of vehicles, likely including something very much like the 5-door you see here. In terms of styling, the Linian is extremely reminiscent of Ford Europe's "kinetic design" philosophy, but its "gaping maw" grille is even bigger than the Ford Verve's. While the nose might not be to everyone's tastes, the rest of the car's a solid-looking effort with a nice stance to it. And it's likely on its way to the Chinese market, backed by all the know-how Guangzhou Honda's gleaned from building Hondas. The question is, will it be a Chinese car built to Honda-like standards, or just another Chinese car -- one built by people who also happen to build Hondas?
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[Source: Autoblog Chinese]
All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ocnblu @ Apr 20th 2008 4:29PM
Well uh... it looks like it needs Preparation H. What's with the inflamed, glowing red hole in the center of the rear bumper?
Sorry, this is just another knock-off, this time of the cool new Fiesta.
AMcA @ Apr 21st 2008 12:38AM
Outright theft of the Ford theme.
I expect much better from Honda.
Polence1 @ Apr 20th 2008 5:01PM
looks good
vwboyaf1 @ Apr 20th 2008 5:09PM
Is this an offshoot of honda? This looks very much like a mazda demio or ford fiesta.
BOYCOTT CHINA!
Torrent @ Apr 20th 2008 5:23PM
No.
Aprime @ Apr 20th 2008 5:46PM
Why? Because your SUV's engine comes from there? :P
I'm doing everything I can not to buy Chinese products anymore, personally.
why ? @ Apr 20th 2008 5:56PM
Maybe it's time for the Chinese people to start screaming BOYCOTT USA and start shunning Boeings and cancel billions dollar deal with them, Ford, GM. It would be very nice, I'd love to see that.
Derek @ Apr 20th 2008 5:58PM
Boycott Japan first for their trade policies. At least China lets foreign companies compete on somewhat fair terms.
why ? @ Apr 20th 2008 6:07PM
And just to let some of you know, I believe GM's second largest outside the US now is China.So have happy boycott, and wait until the next wave of Chinese netizens boycott foreign goods and I won't be surprised if it is American products.
And have fun with your Ford Firestone tires and the Chrysler Voyager and while you're at it, please tell US companies to stop shipping frozen vegetables with dead rats to other countries and mad cow disease beef.
Aprime @ Apr 20th 2008 6:17PM
They're not exactly buying foreign goods, either.
All those cars are manufactured in China.
Not like we'd be losing much, we're just saving money (it was a way for the US to get itself out of the recession that followed 9/11/the end of the web bubble and stuff like that) and elevating China's middle man (believe it or not, but people get salary increases overtime, EVEN IN CHINA).
I want sh*t to move it Tibet (they're pulling the same stuff the Brits did in Quebec back in the colonial days and all if not most of the population of China are under the impression that they're doing good stuff there), I want China to start acting about its internal issues (coal mines, etc).
And now the pro-Chinese or Chinese themselves are going to come over and tell me that they somehow have the right to do all of this because our countries have done it decades or longer ago, and that for some reason I should feel guilty about it/I'm a hypocrite even though I wasn't born in those times. The usual deal, what.
Aprime @ Apr 20th 2008 6:18PM
"...please tell US companies to stop shipping frozen vegetables with dead rats to other countries and mad cow disease beef."
Because the Chinese have a better record when it comes to quality control? LOL.
pscs @ Apr 20th 2008 7:45PM
what's wrong with you? Ok, you can boycott china, on your own. that's totally fine with me.
tell me you don't have 1 thing, anything that comes from china. ha.
what did the chinese ever do to you - or, let's say, what did you ever contribute to the world? don't think you're superior than others mate.
Oh, by the way, our dear CNN has reported US making "tainted" football field/pitch with lead. no way, you can't believe it. no. it's the chinese's fault, hey?
tekdemon @ Apr 20th 2008 9:01PM
lol, boycotting China is pretty damned stupid. Even if a lot of the American products they buy in China are also made there, that doesn't mean that profits don't also flow heavily back to the US.
If GM didn't have a strong position in the Chinese market you could have already kissed it goodbye, because that was the only thing helping to offset the massive losses in the US market, and their losses in the Euro market as well.
And if there was ever a stupid and shortsighted thing to do, it'd be to boycott China as it's growing wealthier. One day it's going to be the #1 customer of every damned country in the world, and spitting in your future customer's face is about as stupid an economic strategy as is possible.
So go ahead, don't buy that coffeemaker that's Made in China, just don't be surprised 20 years from now when they remember your boycott and decide to buy Korean or Japanese or Brazilian over American.
And anyways, about 99.9% of the stuff that's Made in China is fine-we just buy so much stuff from China that the rare problems seem really numerous.
Chances are that the keyboard you're typing on is Made in China, the mouse you're using to click, the chair you're sitting in, the air conditioner that cools your room.
Yeah there's the random crappy stuff that you get once in a while, but for the most part the I'm more than happy with the quality of the stuff I have that's from China.
Aprime @ Apr 20th 2008 9:25PM
"what's wrong with you? Ok, you can boycott china, on your own. that's totally fine with me."
So fine with you that you're going to pull the following stuff out of your anal cavity, oh lawdy lawd.
"tell me you don't have 1 thing, anything that comes from china. ha."
I started with clothes, so far I've been doing pretty good, but obviously yes, I do own a lot of stuff that comes from China, or at the very least as been assembled there. Namely my Apple products. But then again, I never claimed I didn't own anything that came from China, did I? Hell, the 3.4L in my step-dad's late 90's U-Body van could as well come from there for all I know, considering it's the same engine that powers the Equinox and Torrent.
"what did the chinese ever do to you - or, let's say, what did you ever contribute to the world? don't think you're superior than others mate."
Now you're showing your origins. What have they done to me? Well, they're pretty close from making my step-father lose his job at the local paper mill because the industry still thinks outsourcing to China would be better, or something. I never claimed any racial/national superiority to Chinese people, stop putting words in my mouth. Point is, outsourcing everything and making our economy solely service-based is stupid and cannot work overtime.
"Oh, by the way, our dear CNN has reported US making "tainted" football field/pitch with lead. no way, you can't believe it. no. it's the chinese's fault, hey?"
I've read about it, as a matter of fact I posted it on my Facebook for my family and friends to see. So what? At least stuff like this comes out in our news and not other nations... And at least you can't put an inch of responsibility on the government for it (whereas in China the government is in bed with EVERY CORPORATION).
It's pretty hilarious to see all the Chinese being brainwashed by their government (nice coverage of the protests in London (re: Olympic torch passage), China!) and trying to make points about Tibet and their country as a whole on Youtube or any other place like that. Anyway, enjoy your AIDS.
Aprime @ Apr 20th 2008 9:35PM
Derek, they barely if ever import anything aside for designs (engineering included). Hell, they're still having a hard time trying to overcome their massive trade surplus (because we're (the rest of the world) getting increasingly tired of them not consuming and only exporting) even by giving people coupons to get a fridge, TV or stuff like that FOR FREE.
Honestly, the only way to get stuff moving there has to be by turning the Olympics (opening ceremony, please) into a gigantic PR disaster, which the state-controlled media will be hardly able to hold up without having the Chinese ask questions.
They've been fooled for too long, it's time for them to wake up and know what's really happening in their country, I can only wish they will, soon. It probably won't happen for another decade, but one can hope it will.
Tomy @ Apr 21st 2008 8:31AM
Aprime, Not to be offence, please advise the proof for:
"even by giving people coupons to get a fridge, TV or stuff like that FOR FREE." , "China the government is in bed with EVERY CORPORATION."
Whats your source for these information, like you have been in China for even a day-trip? or were just told by your lovely CNN?
Please cofirm it before post.
Aprime @ Apr 21st 2008 1:32PM
And you've been told otherwise by your lovely CCTV?
CBC is my source concerning the electros, as for the rest, well, we know it because it's law.
Tomy @ Apr 21st 2008 9:22PM
lol, I've never got any free electros as you mentioned for my WHOLE life in China, electros stores like "Gome", "SULING" and even american invested "Bestbuy" are expending their markets by openning more and more stores on the high streets. Unless Aprime you may like to pay my "coupons" for that? You were just told by CBC, don't u. Perhaps you should now pay a visit to China and see what REALLY happens here.
CCTV? NO, unlike you, I live in here and I SAW what happened around, I believe my eyes not the media.
Please advise the "law" you mentioned, which law, and which line.
Dustin @ Apr 20th 2008 5:11PM
Strange, but interesting. We need more interesting cars. I like the unique shape of the wheel wells.
jgp @ Apr 20th 2008 5:12PM
Fiesta knockoff.
Sina delenda est.