In 2011, Volkswagen commenced its People's Car Project in China to create crowdsourced concepts of the VW of the future. More than 33 million people visited the site, and three concepts were created from the inputs: the Music Car, the Hover Car and the Smart Key.
The Music Car is a Beetle wrapped in LEDs that change colors to match the driver's choice of music. The Hover Car is a zero-emissions two-seater that, no surprise, hovers over electromagnetic road networks. The Smart Key is Big Brother for your car, in your pocket: the high-def touchscreen on the nine-millimeter key can track the status of your car and keep an eye on it via "satellite transmission."
The project is continuing, so you can still post your thoughts to VW's future. In the meantime there's a video and a couple of press releases below the fold for more on the story.
Continue reading Volkswagen's People's Car Project in China has produced three concepts [w/video]
Not long ago, Land Rover embarked on an epic trans-continental road trip that sought to retrace the route taken by a similar expedition in 1956 and raise £1m for the Red Cross. And after 8,000 miles traveled through thirteen countries - starting in Birmigham, England and ending in Beijing, China - they finally made it.
The departure was celebrated with the production of the millionth Discovery, the arrival timed to coincide with the Beijing Motor Show. Along the way the rugged motorcade swung through Switzerland for the Geneva Motor Show, hit some of Europe's oldest cities, traversed a wide variety of terrains and climates, rolled through Chernobyl as the first private vehicles to tour the disaster site since the nuclear meltdown there 25 years ago, visited an array of museums and toured a former Soviet submarine base.
But before it could complete the final 72-hour leg into China, the crew had to detonate a controlled avalanche to clear an alpine pass. In other words, it was not your average road trip. Read more about it in the press release below and scope out the high-resolution images in the gallery for a closer look at what the convoy encountered along the way.
Continue reading Land Rover completes 8,000-mile Journey of Discovery from Birmingham to Beijing
The breadth and scope of the Chinese car market has ballooned to such an extent that it makes sense for many foreign automakers to design cars specifically for China. Case in point: the new Renault Talisman.
Instead of building the Talisman in China through a joint venture, manufacturing is handled in nearby Korea by Renault Samsung Motors - the same division that has already brought Renault eight awards and sales increasing fourfold since 2009 due to the success of the Koleos crossover.
As for the Talisman itself, Renault has releases suspiciously little information, and even less photos. It's billed as a "casual luxury" sedan, whatever that means, but more than that we couldn't tell you. Which is just fine, because unless you live in China, you'll probably never see one. Feel free to peruse the press release below.
Continue reading Renault says very little about its new Talisman sedan
Hey look! A red version of the Acura NSX Concept for the Beijing Motor Show. Because it's China, you know. Get it? Red. As in "Red China."
And if that doesn't prove Acura is too clever by half, take a good look at the new photos of the red car in the gallery, then check out our related gallery, which has the first series of official images Acura PR released for the car's debut in January at Detroit.
If you're thinking that all that happened here was that someone clicked a few buttons in Photoshop, well... they wouldn't do that, would they? Well, yes, they probably would, but the NSX is actually on display at Auto China in crimson, too. Nifty.
There's a certain German sports car that the designers at CH Auto might have been dreaming about before they penned the Lithia. We don't think this kind of inspiration is anywhere near criminal, though, and before anyone broaches the topic of Chinese design, they should know that the CH Auto's design chief is an ex-General Motors man: Dan Darancou, who has work on the Buick Invicta Concept and the SEMA Chevrolet Camaro Black on his resume.
CH Auto helps automakers prepare cars for sale in China, from design through to engineering - part of Darancou's brief is to make sure those two departments work together. The Lithia, showed off at the Beijing Motor Show, has probably been done as a company calling card. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the spec sheet claims a 150-kilometer range (93 miles).
Details on the pair of Dear Qin concepts that Toyota unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show this week are sparse, but they do hint at something interesting coming to every market where the Japanese automaker sells cars.
Calling them "global-strategic concepts," Toyota says the sedan and hatchback versions of the Dear Qin models have "a design aiming to attract more people to the user base." With that curious statement in mind, the first promotional video for the Dear Qin models (which you can watch by scrolling below) is both language- and information-free, emphasizing the design of the cars for a global audience. With explosions and lightning, of course.
Reports have said that Toyota is working on a new global, front-wheel drive model that is supposed to be launched in 2013. We can imagine these concepts foreshadowing those cars, and hope we get a pair of highly efficient compacts out of the design process. We'll skip the explosions and lightning, though.
Continue reading Toyota Dear Qin hatch, sedan foreshadow new global FWD models [w/video]
It's not the most pronounceable model name, but that's not our problem, is it?
Toyota debuted its sharply styled Yundong Shuangqing hybrid concept at the Beijing Motor Show today, announcing that a production version will be sold in China at some point in the future. The Yundong Shuangqing was joined on stage by the Dear Qin compact and the GT 86 rear-wheel-drive sports car.
Toyota developed the Yundong Shuangqing's hybrid powertrain mainly at the automaker's research and development plant in Changshu, China. "We would like to put smiles on the faces of our Chinese customers with hybrid technology," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in prepared remarks at the show. "I want the people of China to be able to experience the beauty of hybrid technology through a hybrid car born in China."
In 2005, China became the first place outside of Japan where the Prius hybrid was built when Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co. Ltd. started making the third-generation model. And two years ago, GAC Toyota Motor Co., which is in China's Guangdong Province, started making the Camry Hybrid.
Earlier this month, Honda said it would launch at least four hybrids specifically for the Chinese market under either its moniker or the Acura brand in order to capitalize on what's likely to be surging car sales in that country. Honda will introduce the CR-Z, Fit and Insight Hybrids in China later this year, and will likely sell its promised hybrid-powered Acura NSX sports car in China as well.
Continue reading Toyota debuts China-only Yundong Shuangqing hybrid concept in Beijing
Lamborghini Urus, Beijing Motor Show, Scion xB and xD dropped, diesel vehicle sales up
Episode #279 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Dan, and Chris Paukert are joined by the phenomenon that is Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics to chat about the Lamborghini Urus, the Beijing Motor Show, the end of the Scion xB and xD, and the uptick in diesel vehicle sales. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #279:
Lamborghini Urus
Beijing Motor Show
Scion xD, xB dropped
Diesel sales up 35 percent
In the Autoblog Garage
2012 Infiniti G37XS Coupe
2012 BMW 328i
Long-Term 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman
Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Chris Paukert
Runtime: 01:50:38
Get the podcast
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Why The World's Top Automakers Are Flocking To Beijing
Beijing's government has had to resort to a registration lottery to hold down its growth.
Skip a couple years in China, as I had, and you're not likely to recognize it when you return, especially the capital city of Beijing. Peering out from my hotel, through the ever-present smog, new high-rises have transformed the landscape and even on the Sunday afternoon I arrived I could see and hear the construction crews at work across the city.
My first trip to China came shortly after General Motors opened its first joint venture assembly plant a dozen years ago. Back then, Beijing was a city of countless hutongs, the narrow alleys and neighborhoods where most residents once lived. Today, most of those traditional communities are gone, the few remaining ones hidden behind modern skyscrapers.
Those old streets never could have handled today's traffic. Not that the grand new boulevards and highways are coping much better. You can still find the odd rickshaw in tourist neighborhoods. And motorcycles and electric scooters are everywhere. But today, the automobile is king, and traffic is so thick the local government has had to resort to a registration lottery to hold down its growth.
Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.
Continue reading Beijing Motor Show is further proof of China's automotive importance
Limousines? That's so last millennium. These days the pampered and rich in the know get chauffeured around in the back of pimped-out vans. Sure, they may look utilitarian on the outside, but inside, they're as luxe as a private jet. Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of the scene with its much-modified Sprinter vans, but that's not the only big box in its portfolio. And to drive that point home, the German automaker has just rolled in to Beijing with this tricked-out Viano.
Called the Viano Vision Diamond, the custom Benz wagon has a two-tone paint job that only hints at the Maybach-grade cabin that awaits inside. The windows (including the partition inside) have the same Magic Sky Control tinting technology as the roof on the new SL, the cabin is done up in Nappa leather (black for the chauffeur, white for the passengers), and the rear features reclining, temperature-controlled massage chairs, a champagne cooler with flutes, lighting, 40-inch flat screen and Bang & Olufsen sound system (all controlled by a specially-designed iOS app), wireless internet and diamond trim.
Drive us to the airport in one of these and we'd be inclined to just stay in the back, lapping up the luxury of it all. Instead, we'll just admire from afar in the high-res image gallery and press release after the jump.
