In the late 1990’s the Beijing-Jeep joint venture wanted a sedan to compete with the Audi 100. They choose the Chrysler LeBaron, and it came very close to production. But in the end, it just didn’t happen.
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™): Jiuma, a brand under Shanghai Jinma Automobile Corporation. From the mid-1990’s until the mid 00’s the company made a series of interesting vehicles with lots of parts from the Volkswagen bin, some with Volvo design elements. Besides those, Shanghai Jinma also made a range of odd Suzuki Alto-copy cars.
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™): Yemingzhu, a brand owned by Chendu Tiuanju Automobile, a company based in the great city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province in China. In the late 1980’s and 1990’s they made some interesting cars.
The history of the Flyer is long and very typical for the Chinese automotive industry in the 1990’s and 2000’s. It was small four-door hatchback originally made by Xi’an Qinchuan Automobile, based in the great city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province. Later on, it would become BYD’s first car.
Last year I wrote wrote a story (updated with many new pics) about the murky times after Nanjing Auto bought the MG brand. It was unclear what Nanjing bought exactly. This uncertainty was mainly caused by Honda, which owned or co-owned several MG-Rover platforms and designs.
Early after the purchase Nanjing Auto showed several new MG’s. One of these cars was the MG5 sedan, which was unveiled on the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. But there was another ‘Chinese’ MG5. A hatchback model was discovered by reader Max Xiao in Anting Motor City in Shanghai. Thank you very much for the pictures!
Today in China Concept Cars the BYD ET, seen here on the BYD booth on the 2004 Beijing Auto Show. The ET was an electric concept car, imagining a future compact family MPV.
Today in China Concept Cars (CCC) the Changfeng Liebao C1, an extreme SUV concept that debuted on the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show. And amazingly, this concept actually made it into production!
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Yungang Motor, a brand under the Datong Automobile Factory. Yungang Motor made a series of SUVs, several minivans, a bus, and two cars under the CCPDoG.
On the 2004 Beijing Auto Show, Changan Auto unveiled two concept cars. The first was was the Chinese Dragon roadster, and the second one was this Changan Chinese Sturgeon sports sedan.
In the great year of 2000 Chinese automaker Hafei Motors decided they needed a new design direction and a bit of much-needed cool. Hafei therefore asked famed Italian design studio Pininfarina to design a small city car and a concept car. The latter would eventually become the Hafei Menghuan.