SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Wackiest cars and knock-offs

This year’s Tokyo motor show may have just been cancelled, joining the 2020 New York, Geneva, Paris, Detroit and Beijing no-shows, but that didn’t stop 2021 Auto Shanghai going ahead in China this week.

As expected, the first major motor show since 2019 hosted its usual array of weird and wonderful production cars and concepts, including many from established US, European and Asian car-makers.

These included the Audi A6 e-tron, Lexus ES and LF-Z, Ford Evos, Genesis G80 EV, Honda SUV e:Prototype, Mazda CX-30 EV, Mercedes-Benz EQB, Mitsubishi Airtrek EV, Toyota bZ4X and Volkswagen ID.6.

A number of Chinese brands also showed wares that could become relevant to Australians, including the GWM Baja Snake pick-up, Haval Cyber Tank 300 SUV and Lynk&Co 09.

Indeed the 19th running of China’s other biennial auto show played host to the birth of new auto brands including BAIC’s Arcfox, Evergrande’s Hengchi (which revealed no fewer than nine SUVs, MPVs and sedans), Dongfeng’s Free and SAIC-GM’s Wuling Fighting and Baojun Valli.

The list is far from finished there, however, with a plethora of dazzling domestic-market creations making their debut at Auto Shanghai 2021.

Here are just some of the wacky designs and Chinese knock-offs that emerged in the Middle Kingdom this week.

Revealed alongside the Lightning Cat, the Punk Cat is an unashamed reincarnation of the original Volkswagen Beetle from GWM’s Chinese EV brand Ora.

The Ora Punk Cat’s unmistakable body is adorned with LED headlights and tail-lights, fitted with an unspecified EV powertrain and aimed specifically at female buyers, with a pink, green and gold interior and even flowers painted on the dash.

Looking something like a cross between the Batmobile and a Maybach, and festooned with cobweb-like exterior graphics, the L concept comes from China’s oldest car manufacturer, Hongqi.

The big, all-black show car has only three seats – one at the front and two at the rear – and a chandelier hanging from the roof, but there’s no steering wheel in this fully autonomous vehicle.

At first glance, this new SUV from Geely looks quite Volvo-esque up front, which is perhaps no surprise since the Chinese giant owns the Swedish car-maker these days. But on closer inspection there are also design hints from Genesis, Audi and Volkswagen.

Equipped with Level 2 autonomous driving capability and an unmanned automated valet system, the all-wheel drive Geely Xingyue is powered by a 160kW turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

Geely says its new “super-premium and refined SUV” will be launched in China in coming weeks, before being exported to other markets in the near future.

Looking a lot like a smart cabrio is this cute new convertible version of the electric Hongguang Mini city car.

Initially available only in China, the tiny two-seat open-top EV is apparently slated for production in 2022.

Brought to you by the giant state-owned SAIC – the same company that owns MG Motor and LDV – the Roewe Jing is one of the wackiest concept SUVs we’ve seen.

Its name, Jing, translates to whale, which is a theme clearly carried throughout its design. From the huge vertically cut grille up front to its sloping silhouette including roofline that tapers off to the boot lid spoiler, it actually looks like a large sea mammal.

So far, there are no details on what will power the SUV, however sources suggest it’ll use a plug-in hybrid or conventional internal combustion powertrain, as opposed to a fully-electric set-up.

That said, a related model is tipped to be underway, and set to offer full EV power, but won’t come with the same polarising design as the Jing.

The Jing is due on Chinese roads later this year, with production versions said to look very similar to the concept on show in Shanghai.