Beijing Auto Show

We’ve seen some pretty slick-looking concepts from Mercedes-Maybach in the past - the Vision 6 and Vision 6 Cabriolet certainly come to mind quite easily. However, this latest creation, dubbed the Ultimate Luxury concept and leaked prior to a full debut at the Beijing Motor Show, is making our collective stomachs churn.

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Although they ride on different platforms, the Lexus ES and GS are pretty similar. The ES is less than two inches longer, while the GS’ wheelbase is just an inch longer. That’s probably why we’ve heard a few rumors about the GS being discontinued. Now, Lexus has unveiled a couple of teasers for a brand-new ES, which will probably also replace the old GS in the lineup. And it looks really hot.

Mercedes-Maybach isn’t messing around in teasing the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury. For the second day in a row, we’re getting a good look at the Auto-Show-bound SUV concept and, while the teaser itself is short — it lasts all of 11 seconds — we get a clearer picture of the concept’s interior, including a tea set that can be accessed through a compartment on the center tunnel.

Japanese automaker Honda has been rather busy lately when it comes to new vehicles. But alongside new versions of the Civic, Accord, Clarity, and Insight, the carmaker also unveiled a couple of intriguing, all-electric concepts recently: the Urban EV and the Sports EV. And it seems that the Japanese aren’t stopping here, with two new concept vehicles set to break cover at the Beijing Auto Show in China later this month. And both are developed with the company’s local partners in China.

Bentley and Rolls-Royce better start looking over their shoulders. Another luxury brand is looking to get a piece of the super luxury SUV market. That brand would be Mercedes-Maybach, Daimler’s high-class sub-brand. In a surprising move, Mercedes-Maybach is bringing a concept SUV to the Beijing Auto Show later this month. We don’t know much about it, but a new teaser sketch of the concept’s interior has been released, and it looks fancy.

The much-rumored BMW M2 Competition was finally unveiled following a leak on the company’s Australian website earlier this month. The newest member of the M family is just as we expected: it’s mean, powerful, exclusive, and ready to take on the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS on both the road and the track. Heck, it’s so good that it might even pose a threat to the BMW M4.

Two years ago, the DS performance brand unveiled the E-Tense Concept at the Geneva Motor Show. As the brand’s supposed answer to the Audi R8, the E-Tense Concept gained traction as a potential production model. Nothing has come out of it since, and that has led to speculation that those plans have been scrapped. Fortunately, for every door that closes, another one opens. Fast forward to 2018 and DS has a new concept on its hands. It’s called the DS X E-Tense, and, judging by the teaser video, it looks like a worthy follow-up to its namesake.

While it no longer functions as a stand-alone brand since it’s revival as Mercedes-Maybach, the German luxury marque has made a habit of launching at least one exotic concept car per year. Last year it was a sleek pair of Vision 6 two-door models. In 2018, Maybach is kicking things off at the Beijing Motor Show later this month with yet another opulent concept car. Previewed by a 30-second teaser video called "Luxury at its finest," the new vehicle seems to be the fanciest Maybach to date.

Once a glorious company responsible for many Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia designs, Pininfarina was hit by a big financial crisis in the late 2000s. As a result, the Italian firm ended all automotive production in 2011 and was eventually sold to Mahindra in 2015. The design house bounced back under Indian ownership and created a few concept cars in recent years, including the H2 Speed and the Fittipaldi EF7 Vision Gran Turismo. Come 2018 and Pininfarina is readying a brand-new concept vehicle for the Beijing Auto Show, this time around developed in cooperation with the Hybrid Kinetic Group.

The 2019 Lexus ES is all set to make its debut at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show. We don’t know much in the way of details at this point, but a teaser image released by Arabic website Almuraba gives us a glimpse at the front of the redesigned sedan. Once the new ES is done waving to the cameras in Beijing, it is expected to go on sale sometime in the second half of the year.

Pininfarina is no stranger to unveiling concept vehicles at some of the world’s biggest auto shows. It was in Geneva just last month to debut the HK GT, a sleek electric vehicle that proudly showed off some of the biggest gullwing doors you’ll ever see. Not content with that, Pininfarina is attending the Beijing Auto Show with a new concept vehicle. It’s called the H500, and it’s a luxury fastback-like sedan that looks like the closest thing to a production model that Pininfarina has designed in recent memory.

The 2018 Beijing Auto Show is shaping up to be a showcase of electric cars. Buick’s bringing an electric concept, and now we’ve gotten word that Nissan is doing the same. But, the Japanese automaker isn’t just bringing one electric car; it’s bringing three of them, including a new electric concept that will share the stage with the Nissan Leaf and Nissan iMx KURO electric crossover concept.

The BMW M2 has only been alive for a couple of years now, but the smaller M4 has received quite the following in that short time. With a couple of years under its belt, it’s about time for the M2 Competition to make its debut and thanks to an “accidental” leak by BMW’s Australian portal we get to have an early look at what we can expect of the M2 Competition when it debuts later this month at the Beijing Auto Show. And, the best part is that it’s not just images—there are some specs too.

Buick is continuing its brand revival with a new concept vehicle that’s scheduled to debut at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show in April. The concept, called the Enspire, is the latest model to showcase General Motors’ plans for Buick moving forward. Its China debut also isn’t by accident; the General has been excessively aggressive in establishing the Buick brand in China, a country where the automaker sells most of its models.

Nissan is expanding its lineup of body-on-frame vehicles as part of its “M.O.V.E to 2022” initiative to increase its frame-based sales by 40 percent by 2022. A major cog in the overall plan is this, the Nissan Terra. It’s a seven-passenger SUV based on the Navara pickup truck. In fact, the Terra is expected to share almost all its components from the Navara, including its frame and drivetrain. It is already clear the cabin and overall design theme is mirrored between the truck and SUV.

The 2018 Terra will make its official debut at the 2018 Beijing Motor Show in April, along with most of its details. Expect price and fuel economy to come later. Sales will begin in China this spring, with other Asian markets following soon after, including Australia.

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Faraday Future took a bold step last week when it reportedly gave a preview of its second model, called the FF81. The reveal occurred at a supplier’s meeting the company hosted in its California headquarters. Not much is known about the car, but it is expected to be a smaller SUV compared to the FF91. The concept is being lined up to make its debut this year, and signs point to it taking place at the 2018 Beijing Motor Show in China this April.

Jeep might be as American as apple pie and baseball, but its newest model is headed right for China. It’s called the Grand Commander, and it won’t be found outside China’s borders. Based on a lengthened version of Fiat Chrysler’s CUSW platform that also underpins the Jeep Cherokee, the new Grand Commander will accommodate seven people over three rows.

Jeep is already taking orders for the new SUV despite it not being officially debuted. That is expected to happen at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show in April before it arrives in showrooms shortly after.

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The mid-engined Porsche Cayman was launched in 2005. Essentially a coupe version of the Boxster, the Cayman has become increasingly popular with customers as a more affordable and balanced proposition to the range-topping 911. The first-generation coupe came with 2.7-, 2.9-, and 3.4-liter, flat-six engines with as many as 321 ponies and 273 pound-feet of torque. A facelifted Cayman was introduced in early 2009, while the redesigned model arrived in showrooms in 2013, this time powered by 275-, 325- and 340-horsepower engines. As we’re moving closer to the 2017 model year, the Germans are preparing a mid-cycle refresh for the still-new Cayman.

As with most Porsche facelifts, the Cayman was originally expected to receive minor exterior and interior changes, as well as a mild output increase. However, the unveiling of the revised Boxster made it clear that the Cayman was in for a more comprehensive update.

Aside from the usual upgrades inside and out, Stuttgart’s entry-level sports car also received a pair of brand-new engines and a name that harkens back to one of the company’s most iconic race cars. Specifically, the Cayman dropped its flat-six engine in favor of turbocharged, flat-four units and will be marketed as the 718 Cayman starting in 2016.

Another premier is that the Cayman now features the same output specs as the Boxster, with the two now set apart only by their body configurations. What’s more, for the first time the Cayman is priced below the roadster, in a similar way to the 911 model. Find out more about that in our review below and have a look at the first official photos of the 718 Cayman, which was unveiled at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show.

Updated 06/03/2016: Porsche announced that the new 718 Cayman just had a successful production launch at the company’s plant in Stuttgart. With the production launch of the new 718 cayman, Porsche hopes to increase production numbers to a total of 240 vehicles per day by August - up from the current 220.

Click past the jump to read more about the 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman.

Although the third-generation Audi TT was unveiled in early 2014, it didn’t cross the pond to the U.S. until 2015, for the 2016 model year. The high-performance TT-RS will have a similar fate, even though Audi unveiled the beefed-up coupe at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show. It’s been a full year since the TT-RS made its global debut and the high-performance two-door is getting ready to come to the U.S. at the 2017 New York Auto Show, meaning it will go on sale for the 2018 model year.

The TT-RS saga began in 2009, 11 years after the Audi TT’s launch and three years after the TT Mk2’s introduction. Available as both a coupe and roadster, it climbed above the TTS in the TT range. The company’s first compact RS was powered by the legendary, 2.5-liter, five-cylinder engine that produced 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of twist, and featured revised styling and a sportier interior. The TT-RS came to the U.S. in 2012, when the Plus model was launched. Fitted with an uprated version of the 2.5-liter turbo-five, the TT-RS Plus had a cool 360 ponies and 342 pound-feet on tap.

Already more powerful than a Porsche Cayman, the Plus will be replaced by an even wilder version of the TT equipped with a brand-new iteration of the 2.5-liter, five-cylinder engine. Find out how powerful and quick it is and how it stacks up against Porsche’s relatively new 718 Cayman in the review below.

Updated 04/25/2016: Audi dropped the official details on the new TT RS at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show.

Continue reading to learn more about the 2017 Audi TT-RS.

There were a number of interesting vehicles at the Beijing Auto Show this year. We had the new Audi TT-RS, the Mazda CX-4, and a really interesting concept from Chery called the FV2030. However, there was one concept car that was sitting at Qoros’ stand that everyone seemed to neglect at the show. The concept is called the Qoros Qamless, and it symbolizes the work put in by Koenigsegg and Freevalve to develop a new valvetrain that doesn’t require a camshaft.

So you’re probably asking yourself “why Qoros?” Well, I have an answer for that too. It is because Qoros has partnered with Freevalve to create the first production vehicle that uses Freevalve’s new valvetrain technology. The Qamless concept is a preview of the production model that is based on the Qoros 3 SUV. Despite the fact that the concept has gotten very little coverage out of its debut at the auto show, it is a pretty big deal because the Qamless engine promises better performance, improved efficiency, and fewer emissions output while shedding the weight of a traditional engine with more than one camshaft.

Since the concept itself is pretty cool, and the engine represents the next evolutionary stage of the internal combustion engine, we are going to take a closer look at it. There is no timetable for when the Qamless engine will being making it into a Qoros production vehicle, but you can bet neither Freevalve or Qoros is going to waste any time. There is a lot to talk about, so let’s put on our muck boots and dive in.

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The Chinese passenger vehicle market looks primed and ready for an influx of new models, both foreign and domestic. Even as market growth shows signs of slowing, automakers are scrambling to set up shop locally and get their models out in the wild as soon as possible. That much was evident at the Beijing Auto Show this year, where marques from around the world went head-to-head to gain favor in the eyes of consumers. Most popular were SUVs, with electric vehicles and long-wheelbase luxury sedans also garnering a fair bit of attention. But amidst all the dramatic reveals, a few models in particular stood out from the crowd – for good and for ill. In this article, we’ll cover six of the best and worst from Beijing.

Included in this list, you’ll find concepts, crossovers, and sports cars, maybe even with a little controversy sprinkled on top. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts – did we nail it, or fail in epic fashion? Maybe somewhere in between? Don’t hesitate to post in the comments.

Continue reading for the Best and Worst In Show in Beijing this year.

It’s been three years since Peugeot launched the second-generation 308, and the French compact has received a new body style. Following the release of the five-door hatchback and the station wagon, Peugeot is now offering a sedan version of the 308. There is a catch, however. Much like the 307 before it, the 308 sedan is not intended for global use and was developed for the Chinese market only. It replaces the first-gen 308 and joins the 408, a long-wheelbase version of the 308 hatchback.

Part of PSA Group’s "China: Blue Upper" five-year development plan, the 308 sedan was co-developed with Dongfeng, PSA’s partner in China. Not only is it radically different than the model it replaces as far as styling goes, the 308 also rides on a new platform. Whereas the dated 307 and previous 308 used the PSA PF2 underpinnings, the 308 sedan rides on the same PSA EMP2 platform that Peugeot introduced for the Euro-spec hatchback model back in 2013.

Details about the 308 sedan’s features and drivetrains are still scant of this writing, but Peugeot hopes that the new compact will help it ascend among the top 10 most sold brands in China, the world’s largest automobile market. Alongside the China-spec 3008, the 308 sedan will be Peugeot’s future core product in the Asian country and the car the French hope it will bring most new customers to the brand.

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