Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Buick Invicta Concept

GM Vice Chairman Bob "Maximum" Lutz published a new post today on the corporate GM Fastlane Blog that addresses the automaker's newest concept that debuted recently at Auto China 2008 in Beijing: the Invicta. The concept heavily hints at what the next-generation Buick LaCrosse will look like, but Bob points out that the global architecture underpinning the vehicle will be the basis of new cars for Chevy, Saab, Opel/Vauxhall and more. In the past, we would've expected those accompanying models to be rebadged versions with different grilles, headlights and taillights, but Bob explains how GM's new global platform sharing process is different than the rebadging of old. In a nutshell, he says that the money saved from sharing common platforms see will be put into making everything that customer's will see - exterior and interior design, specifically - completely different. While it's great to hear Bob talk about how GM finally "gets it" when it comes to producing common products across an empire of brands, it's something that other automakers like VW/Audi have been doing for years while the General kept feeding us "triplets" of every model it made. So kudos to GM for finally getting it, but it took 'em long enough.


[Source: GM FastLane blog]

We're proud as peacocks of our blogging brothers at Autoblog Chinese who, in blogging parlance, tore the 2008 Beijing Motor Show a new one. We showed you just a sampling of the dozens of cars they covered at the show, as the team from China truly left no rotating turntable unturned. If you want even more Auto China 2008 coverage, just click on one of four wrap-up pages below and don't stop until you've seen every clone, concept and production car that was unveiled in Beijing last week. You may not be able to understand the language they're speaking, but the pictures more than get the point across.

AB Chinese: Wrap-up 1
AB Chinese: Wrap-up 2
AB Chinese: Wrap-up 3
AB Chinese: Wrap-up 4

Our favorites of the show were the Buick Invicta Concept, Geely Tiger GT Concept, Beijing 700R Concept and Honda's Li Nian Concept.

Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Hyundai Elantra in China

As we learned last week, Hyundai used the occasion of Auto China in Beijing to debut its slightly refreshened Elantra. Its face now features a wider grille flanked by larger headlights, and a new lower air intake has also been reshaped. The overall effect is that the Elantra's friendly face has been been given a healthy dose of attitude. Likewise, the Elantra's rear also gets reshaped and loses its bulbous butt complex. We do expect these design updates to eventually reach the U.S.-market Elantra, as well as some new interior niceties like improved connectivity for digital music devices. As for when that will happen, your guess is as good as ours.



[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click to view the Bugatti Veyron's unveiling in Beijing

If you were looking for the new epitome of capitalism's slow-but-steady takeover of communism in China, we've got it for you right here. Bugatti brought its million-euro hyper-car this year to the Auto China show in Beijing, drawing hoards of spectators in its appropriate bright red paint job. What's more is that within two hours of the car's debut, Bugatti had already sold one.

The customer will fly to Bugatti's Molsheim headquarters to pick out the color scheme and options (apparently no one told him he could do it online), and pay a whopping 25 million yuan (approximately $3.6 million, more than twice the sticker price) for the privilege of owning the first Veyron in China. Mao who?

Click on the images below and the press release after the jump for more on the Veyron's unveiling in Beijing.

[Source: Bugatti and Gasgoo]

It turns out that the Geely GT didn't corner the market on coupe concepts at Auto China 2008. Beijing Automotive -- whose Wrangler-style B40 you saw earlier -- is also on the case with its 700R coupe concept, a clean and attractive design with some interesting details. An accent line angles upward, merging with muscular rear haunches, giving the car a nice, aggressive presence. In front, knifelike headlamps; stylized, outboard air intakes; and a teensy main grille slit come together to give the car a good face. Out back, a similar motif finishes the car off, and the result is very attractive overall.

Of course, it'll probably never be anything more than vaporware, but generally speaking, it makes you wonder what on Earth goes on in the boardrooms of Chinese car companies. If they have the ability to deliver clean, original designs like this, then why bother copycatting at all? The mind reels. Until originality in this vein is the norm, the phrase "Chinese car" will remain a punchline. Too bad, because stylewise, this 700R concept is no joke.


[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Beijing B40

The basic Jeep shape has essentially carried forward from World War II to the present day. It has also been replicated many times over by automakers scattered around the world, and variations on the theme continue to appear. The Chinese auto industry has never been shy about (ahem) "borrowing", and Beijing Automotive has come through with one of the "better" quasi-clones we've seen so far. The B40 is obviously Jeep Wrangler-inspired, but rather than ape the Jeep's signature front end, the B40 instead sports a more Land Rover-ish look (think LR2/Freelander 2). And you know what? It's actually kind of interesting to look at.

The interior is gussied up with contrast-stitched leather seats, a nav system, and a steering wheel that looks like it's been ripped from a modern Opel. The wheels are OEM Jeep knock-offs. One thing that jumps out at us is the door handles -- they're a flat style, similar to the ones Jeep used before switching to the circular push-button handles on the current JK Wranglers. We really like that old look better. Anyway, back to the B40 -- the only technical info Autoblog Chinese has is that it's powered by a gasoline engine. Offroad prowess is unknown, as is its production status, but at least we know what a Wrangler/Freelander love child might look like.

UPDATE: As has been pointed out in the comments, Beijing Auto is the current name of the automaker once known as the joint venture, Beijing Jeep. (Stands up, ready to catch javelins.) As such, this is in all likelihood derived from actual Wrangler mechanicals. As one commenter theorizes, if the nomenclature is related to the actual powertrain, this may well have the old 4.0L I6 underhood. You know -- the one you can't get in the USDM Wrangler anymore.


[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Brilliance BS4 Wagon

The Brilliance BS4 sedan is a pretty good-looking car, so it stands to reason that its wagon variant would be easy on the eyes as well. Unveiled in Beijing, the BS4 wagon is indeed a snazzy-looking, ostensibly practical machine. Power comes from a 1.8L Mitsubishi G93 four-cylinder making 134 hp (100 kW) at 6500 rpm. The BS4 wagon also comes equipped with an alphabet soup of safety feature acronyms like "ABS + EBD + EDS" but word association games involving "Brilliance" and "safety" only call to mind the BS6 Euro NCAP debacle (since corrected, allegedly... but still). The bad news continues, as a recent Inside Line review of the BS4 sedan concluded that the car was generally lackluster at best. Based on that, we can probably assume that the same shortcomings afflict the wagon. It does look nice, at least.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click above for high-res gallery of the VW Lavida for China

Shanghai Volkswagen developed the new VW Lavida in China, for China. Now it's made its big debut before the home-market audience in Beijing. Stylistically, the made-in-China design looks oddly dated, quite frankly. The petal-shaped head- and taillamps look like something you might find on a 1990's Korean import and not a newly-minted VW, regardless of origin.

The Lavida's positioned below the new VW Bora (also introduced in Beijing), with a shorter overall length (around 3 inches) but an identical wheelbase, so passenger comfort should be around the same as the larger car. The interior is a blend of familiar VW partsbin stuff with elements that just seem a little odd-looking in a VeeDub, like the silver audio head unit and the silver HVAC knobs set against a healthy dose of woodgrain trim. Power comes from 4-cylinder engines displacing 1.6L or 2.0L, with a six-speed Tiptronic available to handle shifting duties. It may be all-new, but it's also pretty boring.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Nissan Teana and Teana XV

Back in October of last year, Nissan unveiled the Intima concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. The large front-wheel-drive sedan previewed the styling for the new Teana (above, dark) and more luxurious Teana XV (above, light) that Nissan and its Chinese joint-venture partner Dongfeng debuted at the Auto China show in Beijing. The connection between concept and production vehicle is strong here, with the windswept front fasica, large greenhouse, and kink at the bottom of the C-pillar coming over intact. The flush grille, LED headlamps and suicide doors, however, did not.

The Teana will have a strong link to the western world thanks to the platform on which it rides, which is also shared with the Altima, Maxima and Murano. Power is provided by Nissan's award-winning 3.5L VQ V6 engine, which is mated to a CVT transmission for the Chinese. It appears that a bevy of 2.0 and 2.5L four-cylinder powerplants will also be available when the car goes on sale in late Summer.

Make no mistake, the Teana is a large, luxurious front-wheel-drive sedan, just like the current Maxima here in the U.S. It even features such niceties as a BOSE 5.1-channel surround sound system and Nissan's panoramic sunroof in the XV version.
Check out more pics of the new Nissan Teana in the gallery below.



All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click image for a gallery of the Geely TX4 LTC

Geely builds the LTI TX4 under license, and naturally, it's showing off the popular London taxi at its display in Beijing. The standard TX4's kind of vanilla though, so to grab showgoers' attention, the automaker has also plopped an electric blue "hot rod" version called the TX4 LTC in its display, as well. It might more appropriately described as a "not rod", since the TX4's stock 2.4L Euro IV-compliant diesel remains underhood. For maximum visual effect, Geely appears to have raided the Chinese equivalent of a Pep Boys, adding a faux dual exhaust, bolting on truck running boards and fitting six-spoke wheels that might be just a smidge oversized. Call us crazy, but it looks like turning could become a bit of an adventure.

Inside, the passenger compartment gets a white interior and possibly some stereo upgrades along with a nice photo of Big Ben on the bulkhead. You might be stifling a giggle, but compared to some of the vehicular insanity that's showed up at previous years' Chinese auto shows, the TX4 LTC is almost boring, and even with that stock engine, lead-footed hacks can probably still smoke Geely Beauty Leopard drivers at red lights. Just don't take the bait and follow them into the twisties -- you might run into some issues.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]