Exploring China's Wild Automotive World
Exploring China's Wild Automotive World
Here’s a Buick Regal GL 2.5, seen in the Chinese capital, Beijing, in 2024. The good old Regal was a bit dirty but otherwise in great shape. This Regal was a China-only model, fitted with gigantic headlights, which were fashionable…
This is a Brilliance V5 crossover, seen in Beijing in late 2018. The Atlas Brown Metallic crossover looked very nice, with darkened windows, the original alloy wheels, and a controversial BMW-inspired design. The license plates are from Shandong Province. There’s…
Here’s a Buick Electra E7, seen earlier this year at a Buick dealer in west Beijing. The Electra E7 is a China-only SUV with a front-wheel drive PHEV powertrain. It looks pretty sharp for a Buick, especially in this cool Golden…
The Xpeng GX is the new flagship SUV of the Xpeng brand. I went to my favorite Xpeng shop in Beijing to check it out. First impression: it is huge, and it looks less like a Range Rover in person…
Here’s a Daewoo Racer, seen in March 2013 in the great city of Jinan, capital of Shandong Province. The poor Daewoo seemed abandoned, and it was in pretty bad shape. Still, a special car like this deserved a story.
I went to see the new Aito M9 in a HIMA shop in southern Beijing. The Aito M9 is a large high-tech machine with EV and EREV powertrains. It isn’t super pretty in the traditional sense, but it sure is…
Here’s an Audi A6L pickup truck, seen near an Audi dealer in Beijing in 2016. This is a very famous car in China. Audi dealers used several of these converted trucks as service vehicles in the 2000s and 2010s.
Here’s a Geely Merrie hatchback, seen in Beijing in 2016. It was in fantastic shape for its age, with the insurance stickers on the windshield going back to 2003! The Merrie is completely original, down to the wheels and even…
This is a Hafei Baili HFJ 7090, seen in March 2017 at a car market in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. The beautiful Baili was in reasonable shape. Oddly, the owner had painted the wheels green and the interior…