Chana CV8

The Chana is yet another Chinese market car with a 'drop-eye' lamp graphic and slightly fussy front aspect, but is otherwise a generically handsome and well-resolved C-sector sized sedan.

The red-painted inner element of the alloy wheel and distinctive rear light cans were the most obvious non-production elements of this pre-production show car. The new production version Chana CV8 will replace the Chana Suzuki SX4 sedan at the end of the year.

Great Wall SUV

At first glance this Great Wall SUV - like other Great Wall cars - appears to be a blatent copy of the Fiat Panda.

Although having almost identical proportions to the four-wheel drive Panda, the Great Wall SUV differs with innovative body side moldings. From the rear the moldings that sweep up from the base of the rear door to envelope the rear wheel arch, while at the front they sit just on the top part of the wheel arch and sweep backwards to incorporating the side indicator repeater on the front door.

The front end design also differs from that of the Panda, with friendly round lamps sitting within a grey grille graphic. The D-pillar treatment at the rear is also arguably more successful than that of the Panda.

Changfeng M1A

This compact MPV was another new production car presented with a few trim elements that will likely not make it to series production. The brushed aluminum roof bars and crude drilled-metal grille insert are inherently fussy design features, so it's no great loss that they won't be implemented along the production line.

The car is also, like many of the Shanghai debuts, a generically handsome, well-resolved and slightly old fashioned design, with an old platform underpinning the car and dictating the proportions.

With the one child policy in China thirty years old this year, the demand for MPVs will likely be more for extended, multi-generational families than the typical large families European and American MPVs cater to.