Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know by now the Chinese automotive industry has evolved dramatically thanks to a government that has directed automakers to invest heavily in electrification, and a populace that craves increasingly sophisticated technology.
I just got back from Auto China 2026 in Beijing, which was my first time at a Chinese motor show, believe it or not.
I thought I was prepared for the scale, after organisers confirmed Auto China this year would be held across two Beijing convention centres with 17 halls in total, and would be host to 1451 vehicles and 181 world premieres.
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I packed my comfiest pair of Brooks and, while I didn’t have a smartwatch to count my steps as other journalists did, my phone tells me I did 22,916 steps on Saturday after doing just over 20,000 the day before. I don’t usually count my steps, but that sure sounds like a lot.
It was overwhelming and overstimulating, and somehow two days wasn’t enough – particularly not with press conferences to attend, and content to capture. And while I’m sure there was plenty of exciting technology to be found in the halls filled with suppliers, particularly those specialising in batteries and ADAS, my focus in my finite amount of time had to be on the automakers.
Being on the go, I think I only ended up sitting down in maybe a handful of vehicles – a Nissan NX8 conveniently located next to my group’s waiting point, which had extremely comfortable seats, and a Jetour F700 ute with a properly luxe interior. I could have fallen asleep on those massaging rear seats…
The show was a far cry from the likes of the Seoul and New York City shows I attended last year, which were the size of postage stamps in comparison and where I was able to sit in myriad vehicles and still have time to kill.
As this was my first time in China, I had been enjoying carspotting out on the street – oh look, a Li Auto! A Baojun! A Voyah! Considering I have an Instagram dedicated to carspotting, I was in my element, and pretty chuffed when I only had to whip out Google Lens a handful of times for some particularly inscrutable logos – curse you, Haima and Weltmeister.
Inside the halls of the two exhibition centres, I was as much of a kid in a candy store, but there were still a handful of brands I had to wrap my head around.
HIMA, or the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, isn’t a brand. Rather, it’s an alliance (okay, the clue was there in the name) led by technology giant Huawei, with automakers offering bespoke brands that incorporate technology and expertise from the tech giant. Chery has Luxeed, SAIC Motor has SAIC (confusing name!), BAIC has Stelato, JAC has ritzy Maextro, and Seres has AITO.
This would be like if Apple collaborated with, say, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda and Mazda and they agreed to launch a new brand each.
Epicland was a brand that had completely eluded me even though I was aware of Aistaland, and it further shows just how symbiotic a relationship Huawei has with the auto industry. Both of these Dongfeng brands are yet another pair of Huawei collaboration brands, and are actually separate from HIMA.
I was well aware of Xiaomi, another huge tech company well-known for its smartphones, which launched its own eponymous car brand – something even Apple bailed from doing, and yet which Xiaomi has done successfully. There was plenty of activity on its stand.
The days of outright copycats in China are as dead as the Landwind and Zotye brands, but there are certainly some common themes.
Boxy SUVs are very in vogue right now, and if you squint hard the likes of the GWM Tank 300, Jetour T1, and others have some similarities to Western vehicles like the Land Rover Defender and Ford Bronco. But these are much closer to an homage than plagiarism, although the Rox Adamas sure looks like a Defender from a distance…
Then there’s the legion of full-size crossover SUVs, which are less boxy and which almost all have a ‘9’ somewhere in their name – the Wey V9X, Aito M9, Li Auto L9, Nio ES9, etc. You can certainly see some strong parallels, in this respect, between Chinese and American buyer tastes, though there’s a lot of electrification in this space ranging from hybrids through to full EVs.
There’s also a clutch of high-performance EVs that bear at least a superficial resemblance to the Porsche Taycan, including the Aistaland GT7 and SAIC Z7.
Oh, and almost every brand had at least one vehicle on display with new turquoise lights used to indicate whether a Navigation on Autopilot (NOA) Level 2+ autonomous driving system is switched on.
Honestly, it was hard to find a Chinese brand that didn’t have something interesting on its stand. If I had to pick, I’d say Roewe and Hongqi were looking a bit sleepy.
American, Japanese, Korean and European brands alike – including Hyundai, Nissan, Buick, and Volkswagen – were eager to show off new models developed for the Chinese market.
This included the chunky Nissan Terrano PHEV concept, the rakish Hyundai Ioniq V, the gorgeous Toyota bZ7, and a range of new Volkswagen EVs developed with Xpeng.
Then there’s the case of Audi and AUDI, the latter a collaboration with MG parent SAIC Motor – to distinguish these verbally, the German automaker refers to them as ‘four-ring’ and ‘four-letter’.
The importance of the Chinese market has also shaped the design of global models. Sit in a new Lexus ES, which dominated the Japanese premium brand’s stand this year, and tell me it doesn’t look awfully Chinese inside with its huge screen and absence of buttons.
Thankfully, some Chinese design trends that have caught on in recent years – like annoying electronic door handles – will disappear due to new Chinese government regulations. And I’d put good money on Chinese regulations and buyer tastes continuing to shape how cars look in other markets, even those from non-Chinese brands.
Bespoke vehicles for the Chinese market aren’t new phenomena. Go back 10 years and you’ll find models like the Volkswagen Phideon and Hyundai Mistra. But the scale of these efforts from non-Chinese brands in 2026, and the way many of these vehicles incorporate technology and mechanicals from their Chinese joint venture partners, is significant.
It really seems like non-Chinese brands for the most part are bringing their A (or at least B) game to take on the domestic automakers, but they’re fighting an uphill battle as younger buyers in China help drive a shift to domestic brands.
After all, when even a lowly BYD Seagull can offer God’s Eye semi-autonomous driving technology, and an Avatr, Zeekr or Denza can offer performance and battery technology to match or surpass that of established luxury brands, rooting for the home team is an entirely logical option for Chinese buyers.
As a customer in China, do you buy a vehicle from Mazda, or do you buy a vehicle from one of its joint-venture partner Changan’s suite of brands? How much is that familiar foreign badge worth to you?
Some non-Chinese brands didn’t show up. Jeep has one foot out of the door of this market, though fellow Stellantis brand Peugeot is doubling down. Chevrolet is fading rapidly here, and GM is wisely maintaining its focus on Buick and Cadillac which enjoy stronger reputations in China. And Genesis wasn’t at the show, as Korean brands have struggled here in recent years in large part due to political factors.
Tesla also didn’t show up, but then again it likes to do things differently, doesn’t it?
One brand that did show up – but, to be frank, probably shouldn’t have – was Infiniti. It had three products on display, one of which, the QX50, is now around a decade old and showing it. But I feel bad picking on poor Infiniti given its parent’s financial issues, and here’s hoping it can tap Dongfeng for some fresh product.
And that’s where we’re at now, where it’s becoming increasingly appealing for non-Chinese brands to tap their joint-venture partners for new models. How many of us Aussies are excited for new products like, say, the Nissan Frontier Pro and Mazda 6e?
What’s also clear is non-Chinese brands are keen to emphasise their history even as they look to the future with their technology. Honda had a first-generation Accord on its stand, BMW had a 2002, and Mercedes-Benz actually had multiple classic vehicles on display.
That’s heritage the Chinese brands can’t match, although it’s unclear how much buyers there truly care about this – we’ve seen plenty of non-Chinese brands slide backwards in the viciously competitive market there.
If you’re after good old-fashioned V8s, manual transmissions and convertibles, and all those other things that are like catnip to most enthusiasts, you’ll find them in short supply at Auto China.
That doesn’t mean you won’t find anything to intrigue even the biggest Luddite among the enthusiast community. Rugged off-roaders with live front and rear axles can be found at the 212 brand’s stand. Denza had the slinky Z Convertible. Fangchengbao and Lynk & Co had gorgeous concepts.
GWM showed off an updated Tank 700, which is set to get a new V8 engine but for now offers the choice of turbo V6 and four-cylinder plug-in hybrid power. And the Chinese automaker is also working on a supercar, though it wasn’t on the stand this year. Maybe next?
At this point, you may be in one of two camps: either I’ve mentioned so many obscure (to an Australian) names that this article might as well be gibberish, or you’re so clued into the Chinese industry that my observations seem superficial.
To truly cover the scope of the Chinese automotive industry in 2026, the headwinds foreign brands face in the market, and the technological advancements being made every year particularly in battery technology, I’d need a much larger article in which to do it. Scratch that, I’d need an encyclopedia (do they still print those?).
If you’re clued in about the Chinese industry, good for you. At CarExpert, we try to help keep you informed about it given how many brands from the world’s largest auto market are already here, and how many more are coming.
At some point, though, we only have so many staff and so many hours in the day so we can’t cover every Xiaomi product announcement and need to focus on the brands, Chinese or otherwise, that are already here. And that number of brands continues to grow.
Chinese automakers aren’t done with our market – not by a long shot. As the Chinese market becomes increasingly competitive, with more new brands and shrinking profit margins, ever more automakers are going to look to markets like ours for exports.
So while Dongfeng or Avatr or Rox might sound alien to you, they could soon be on your street… or in your driveway.
MORE: All the Chinese auto brands coming to Australia in 2026 and beyond
