Guangzhou auto show report 2019

Guangzhou Auto Show held annually plays second fiddle to China’s main car show which alternates every April between Shanghai and Beijing. Given the sheer size and importance of the Chinese market the show, held in the same vast exhibition space as the world famous Canton Trade Fair, often plays host to world premieres from not only domestic but international producers as well. Although this year’s pickings were slim there were some notable launches, concepts and teasers. [The GAC concept launched at the show will be covered in more depth in a separate story.]

Venucia Xing

In April Venucia showed the V Concept in Shanghai and the Xing, which means star in Chinese, is a continuation of this theme into a production vehicle. It also represents an important step in the evolution of the Venucia brand, which started out as a China only sub-brand of the Dongfeng Nissan joint venture.

“This is our third generation car. In the first generation they were just Nissans with some body panels changed. With the second generation, like the T70, they were still Nissans but with a new body” says Venucia’s deputy managing director Taiji Toyota. With the Xing, the first car of the new generation, it is a completely new design riding on Venucia’s own VSA (Venucia Smart Architecture) platform based on technology from the Nissan Alliance. The VSA platform comes in three sizes with the Xing riding on the biggest - VSAL.

One of the most noticeable features of the Xing is the grille which has largely crossed over unchanged from the V. “The name Venucia comes from Venus, this is about space and so with this grille we call it the galaxy grille” says Toyota about the 3D mesh at the front. “We think a strong powerful grille is like a galaxy. We are trying to explain value by design, it looks more expensive” says Toyota. Venucia’s target customers live typically outside the largest cities and like cars that signify that they are doing well. At the rear a light cluster that extends across the width along with extensions at the edges to just above the level of the tailgate opening provide strong visual cues.

Surprisingly the interior was not on show with the windows blacked out. Although the design has largely been finalised the car on show was still a prototype. “It is quite high tech. When we design I always say to the designer set your design in the main market – it shouldn’t be edgy. The second thing I say is that it should be the most advanced design but acceptable. So with the interior there is a big screen, chargers, electric parking brake and the passenger seat has a foot rest that comes out. People in Tier 2 places want to have a good image for the future” says Toyota.

Powering the Xing is a 1.5 turbo Mitsubishi engine and the car is available as a mild hybrid. Sales will begin around April 2020.

Xpeng P7

Back at the Shanghai show Xpeng showed the outside of its forthcoming second car, the P7, but provided little else. In Guangzhou they opened it up for the world to see and announced the all-important prices and specs. One of the current three most successful new EV startups in China the company so far only sells the G3 SUV.

Compared with the squat looking G3 the P7 has a radically different look. Embracing a four door sports coupe style it has elegant proportions and styling reminiscent of Italian designs. “The key elements are it is pure and simple with diffusing surfaces” says designer Eric Zhao. He goes on to note that these are key elements across the two cars although at first glance there appears to be little family resemblance. One issue when designing a car like the P7 is the need to accommodate the battery pack – something that usually makes such cars taller. “It is always a problem how to balance these two issues. Our car is lower thanks to the batteries being thinner than is often the case” says Zhao explaining how Xpeng achieved the desired proportions.

In 2017 the design department moved from Shanghai to Guangzhou – the opposite way to most design departments – in order to be closer to the headquarters and engineering. Numbering 45 designers today, about a third of whom are foreigners.

“We designed both the G3 and P7 in house, in fact unlike some of our competitors we do almost everything in house” says Zhao. With both cars the designs were also put out to design studios but in each case the in house design eventually won. “The management didn’t want to choose our design for the P7, we had to persuade them” says Zhao who goes on to say there is a great deal of respect and free talk within the company.

We are certainly glad the design department won through. The good looks extend into the interior which Zhao characterises as soft. As a larger more upmarket car it builds on the G3 setup and makes it into a far sportier proposition. Whereas the G3 has two individual screens with the main touchscreen portrait orientated, on the P7 the instrumentation appears to seamlessly flow into the horizontally mounted touchscreen which will control most of the functions. Adding to the sporty credentials are the red leather seats.

“There is an 18 speaker Dynaudio surround sound system and ambient lighting will match the music” says Zhao. Hidden away are new automatic air vents. Already available to order deliveries will begin in the second quarter once production starts at Xpeng’s new factory. Prices range from RMB270,00 to 370,000, with range and performance being the main dividing factor. The long range version achieve a range of 650km (NEDC) and 0-100km time of 6.7s. The performance version adds an additional motor to the front axle cutting the dash time to 4.3s but at the expense of range - cut to 550km. With a chassis developed in conjunction with Porsche Engineering this will definitely be a model to watch.

Roewe Vision-iM

SAIC has a tendency with its concepts to produce vehicles that closely preview forthcoming models and the Vision-iM is no exception. The ‘i’ stands for intelligent and ‘M’ for MPV and the concept showcases a new model that has already been spied testing and will debut at next year’s Beijing show.

“This is a different MPV, normally in China an MPV is for business people but we think in the future a lot of families will use this kind of car” says Shao Jingfeng, SAIC’s Vice President of Design. SAIC’s joint venture with General Motors has had considerable success with the Buick GL8 – now on its third generation – in the business market. Over the last few years BYD and Geely amongst others have launched new MPVs and SAIC is betting that with Chinese families now allowed two children this kind of vehicle will be attractive.

To appeal to families the design is deliberately different to traditional MPVs. “The name also in English says ‘I’m’ meaning like me. This is an SUV style MPV” explains Shao. The car showcases Roewe’s next generation DNA. Most noticeable at the front is the much larger more imposing grille. On the iM the bonnet is much higher than on many MPVs giving a more SUV feel to it – further enhanced by the five strong lines.

SAIC used new 3D – digital design dimensional – technology on the iM. “This is not like the traditional process in design. Usually we have a drawing, we then do a clay model, scan to computer, and finally build a model and tooling. With the new design tools it makes it very easy to change things” Shao continues.

A strong beltline extends all the way from the front lights into the rear light cluster. The design also features a floating roof along with liberal uses of chrome. According to Shao the production version will be quite similar with the most noticeable differences being proper mirrors, space for a number place and smaller wheels.

The rear light cluster allows airflow through a hole – something that may make it to the production version in order to improve aerodynamics. As Roewe’s first MPV the rear has an SUV style feel to it with a strong lined tailgate. It also shows the brands new way of writing Roewe – over recent models it has eschewed a rear badge for wording.

Geely Icon

Back at the 2018 Beijing show the Geely Icon concept with its chunky 8-bit styling caused quite a stir. Looking certainly at first glance unlike any other Geely nothing more was heard about it until recently. Breaking cover in a big way on a Geely stand full of the vehicle, the Icon stays true to the concept with about 90 per cent carry through.

“The inspiration comes from product design. We wanted very clean form language with very high tech details so it is both minimalistic and industrial” says designer Yuki Ma. The boxy looks thanks to frequent use of slightly softened rectangles on the outside appear to set the car apart from the rest of the range. This however is not the case.

“We want to try new things, but it still has a Geely character. We have distilled all surfaces and graphics to their minimalist and purest industrial form. The Icon is designed for customers who are very distinctive” explains Ma. Although the split light arrangement is new to Geely the trademark ‘expanding cosmos grille’ is still there but lower than on most Geely cars and now represented by softened rectangles. This symbol also now makes an appearance on the back of the car along with rectangular tail lights.

The interior follows through with those influences and includes two 10.25 inch screens for instrumentation and infotainment along with blocky looking seats and details. Underpinning the car is Geely’s new BMA platform and it is powered by a 1.5 turbo charged engine mated to a seven speed dual clutch gearbox. Does the Icon represent Geely’s future direction? “It is a design trend. The next Geely design should look cleaner and more high tech. The Icon influences design for some other Geely cars” offers Ma.

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