It’s billed as the biggest car show on earth and with a million visitors expected through the turnstiles, Auto China 2026 certainly lived up to all the hype – there were bright lights, mobile phones galore, fanfares and spectacular product launches.
The event in Beijing runs for 10 days and we were lucky enough to get in ahead of some of the crowds for the media experience and to clock up nearly 20,000 steps. That’s because Auto China Beijing stretches across two neighbouring venues covering 380,000 square metres – there were a total of 1,451 vehicles on show, 181 world premieres and 71 concept cars. And that’s not to mention the number of robotics on show, plus some truly outrageous models that ‘thankfully’ will never see the light of day on public roads.
As the host nation, it was the ideal opportunity for the Chinese giants in car manufacturing to take centre stage and they did that bn spectacular fashion with the likes of Geely Holding displaying models from Geely, Zeekr and Lynk & Co, while Chery, OMODA, JAECOO, Leapmotor, BYD, MG, Changan, GWR and XPENG also drew in the crowds.
But the mainstream European brands held their own too with huge numbers flocking to see what premium marques such as Mercedes, BMW and Audi had planned for the future and Japanese rivals such as Toyota, Lexus and Honda had plenty to shout about too.
Geely proved the technology is a moving at an alarming rate with the unveiling of its fully autonomous, driverless Robotaxi called the EVA Cab. If you think that’s the future, then you’d be wrong as trials are already being carried out across cities in China and there are plans to accelerate the roll-out further afield. It won’t be too long before you get off a flight at T5 and you’ll be met by a driverless cab, featuring state-of-the-art safety technology, taking you to your destination. They can probably fill you in on the latest footie scores too!
Elsewhere there were robotic traffic officers, a ‘female’ one complete with ponytail and even a dog that would give you a high five.
So, lots of new-age tech at every turn, but we were there to see what the car industry had to offer and it’s looking very interesting indeed.
Zeekr, a premium sub brand of Geely Holding is heading to the UK and we are hoping the first offering will be the stunning 007GT, which was introduced at the show by Bond-esque music from Jack Savoretti. It’s a stunning shooting brake model that’s very easy on the eye and packed with technology. With a projected range in excess of 500 miles, it’ll certainly be one to watch. However, the ‘00’ moniker will be dropped somewhere along the way so it will simply be the Zeekr 7GT.
The Geely EX2 is another fully electrified five-door city model destined for the UK following the recent launches of the EX5 and Starray cars. It was the best-selling car in China last year so expect a lot of fuss when it arrives later this year.
Also heading to UK shores later this year will be the OMODA 4, with the same full hybrid SHS-S powertrain that recently launched on the OMODA 5. Once again, this is quite the looker and should prove popular with UK buyers.
Remember the quirky smart fortwo of yesteryear? Well, it’s making a comeback … of sorts. The new smart #2 is a fully electrified tiny city car that takes its inspiration from its much older ancestor and brings it all bang up to date. Details are still quite sketchy at this stage, but it will certainly address any shortfall in the ultra-compact car sector.
Elsewhere the new-look i7 boasts plenty of Neue Klasse styling cues that were introduced recently on the iX3, another car that was gaining a lot of attention, although we have already test driven it in the UK.
With its large grille, it’s a car that can be easily identified from afar, and large grilles were a thing at Audi, Tiggo, along with a wealth of Chinese brands that we had never seen before.
Identifying manufacturers, let alone models, was a challenge in itself with so many unrecognisable emblems and very little spoken English, but we did see a large number of 4x4s and pick-ups as well as a lot of beefy models that would have looked very much at home wearing Land Rover badging.
Concept cars are an absolute must at any car show and Auto China didn’t disappoint. Our pick of the bunch was the Mercedes-Benz AMG XX Concept, which we desperately would love to see launched properly – wow what a looker! Other head-turners included the Hyundai EARTH and some weird and whacky models that we simply couldn’t identify.
Volvo was celebrating its 99th anniversary with some beautiful heritage models, alongside newer cars such as the EX90 and there was a display of BYD’s impressive Flash charging set-up which sees car batteries fully charged in just a few minutes – even at temperatures of minus 30 degrees.
The enthusiasm from the crowds, and we were visiting on the quieter media day, was almost fanatical at times, especially if a celebrity was spotted in the crowds. Mobiles were held aloft at the unveilings and the noise showed no signs of dying down. But that is motor show life at its very best.
And, what a show and what an experience. After several hours and some 20,000 steps later, I was certainly ready for a well-earned break. EVA Cab for Ashford please?