SAIC's 'start-up' brand Roewe launched its N1 concept at the 2009 Shanghai auto show to preface a forthcoming sportier production sedan that will sit slightly below the existing 550.

The N1 is shorter than the 550 (4.6m vs. 4.7m approximately) but SAIC's China design boss Ken Ma said the N1 has a longer cabin and will offer greater interior space. The car has a more cab-forward look than the 550 and features a squarer front face with more angular lights and a grille featuring just a single horizontal vane, above which has been slotted the heraldic Roewe badge (moved down from the hood). The side profile is more dramatic than the 550 with a pronounced BMW 3 Series-esque side crease starting at the front door and rising upwards and then right back to join the rear lights.

Ma told Car Design News one of the main the ideas behind the concept was to create a "net car" (thus its 'N1' name) that would appeal to younger families by acting as "a moving information platform". Part of that functionality could come from the large TFT screen that occupies the whole space behind the steering wheel - complete with graphically convincing virtual driver's dials - and that could potentially also display pop-up boxes describing local road conditions, satnav information and more.

The Roewe N1's interior also features an unusual see-through blue plastic center stack design with switches partially embedded in the sides as the focal point for a cabin that otherwise looks very production-ready. Indeed, a production version of this concept potentially badged '350' could be on sale as early as 2010. Roewe's range expansion will not stop there either. Set to follow is a Roewe-badged Land Rover Freelander-sized small SUV and a smaller supermini from sister SAIC brand MG.

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Roewe 550 - Beijing 2008 

Acknowledging the important role luxury vehicles in the Chinese market often fulfill as both work place and mobile meeting room, Buick showed a five meters-plus, super spacious six-seater MPV with a difference at the 2009 Shanghai auto show.

Appropriately called the Business Concept it was designed in Shanghai at GM and SAIC's joint venture Asian studio PATAC. PATAC's design director Friedhelm Engler confidently told Car Design News: "We think this vehicle is exactly what China needs. When a businessman turns up at a prestigious hotel to pick up a colleague or client for a meeting, his car has to represent his business too. This is not just a people mover."

The concept's front face is suitably big and business-like featuring an imposing and more jewelled new interpretation of Buick's waterfall grille. The side of the car shows the brand's now established 'double sweep spear' highlighted by a thick bar of chrome starting from the angular front headlamps and then accentuating the high front door beltline - which dips half-way along the rear door, partly to provide better rear passenger vision - before finally wrapping round the rear lights. Teamed up with a strongly raked back front windscreen and a rocker line angling back in parallel with the first half of the belt line, it makes the large vehicle look much more dynamic.

Large conventionally opening front doors and sliding rear ones open to reveal a deep burgundy and cream color scheme inspired by ivory and a dark red hard wood called Zitan. Blue-lit acrylic sets off the wide instrument cluster and also the round seat bases to add to the prestigious lounge feel. The second-row seats individually swivel and legroom throughout looks excellent.

Given how well the basic China-only GL8 minivan already has sold, Engler believes the Business Concept would be a logical production move, but would require a different platform. Industry insiders suggest it could be sold alongside the GL8 and launch within three years.

Former military truck supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China, Changfeng Motors, chose today's Auto China 2009 press day to unveil a pair of new cars based on the Lancer sedan sold by joint venture partner Mitsubishi. Openly referred to in the Changfeng press release as a 'Volvo S40 lookalike', the Acumen production sedan strays furthest from the its Lancer roots. But it was the Acumen Sports Coupe concept that grabbed the attention of the designers gathered in Shanghai.

The greenhouse fore of the B-pillars and hood appear to have been carried straight over from the Lancer, and the prominent trapezoidal grille is almost identical. Within the grille aperture, however, is a matt black T-shaped graphic element flanked by pair of D-shaped chrome bars that extend into the bumper to form a home for a horizontal strip of LED lamps. It's a nice touch. The headlamps also step down more acutely at the outer edges, creating a dramatic look from head-on.

A number of the car's design themes seem to have been 'borrowed' from European rivals, however. The crease that runs from the front fender and accelerates up into the rear wheelarch is straight off the Audi A5, for example, and like the Acumen sedan parked nearby, the Acumen Sports Coupe's shoulder treatment calls to mind the work of Volvo: specifically the C70 coupe cabriolet. In fact, the way that the (fixed) greenhouse arcs down to meet a wide, flat rear deck very much calls to mind the proportions of a folding hardtop. Somebody needs to tell Changfeng that these cars only look that ungainly out of necessity...

Not exactly the donor Lancer's strongest feature, the four-seat, Changfeng-designed Acumen interior is nothing short of shabby. Even the bright orange upholstery and door card inserts can't detract attention from the brittle switchgear, nasty-looking fake aluminum trim on the center console and childish font used to adorn the orange-lit instruments. While it's good to see the brand stepping into bolder design territory, a more holistic approach is required if it's going to be taken seriously on the global stage.