beijing motor show

We've wrapped up our Beijing Motor Show coverage as April closes and May begins, signaling the end of the major international auto show season. We'll have a spring and summer full of concours, racing, meets, exhibitions and more to keep us busy though until the new car reveals pick up again in October at the Paris Motor Show.

The Geely Emgrand GT is another example of the automaker's apparent seriousness about being considered a top-flight player in the industry. This coupe features classic sports car proportions and aside from the overdone grille, it looks quite attractive. The GT comes from Geely's new top-level Emgrand sub-brand and boasts some impressive specs. It's reportedly a plug-in hybrid with a 2.4-liter inline-four that churns out 160 horsepower and 165 pound-feet on its own.

Measuring approximately 17.5 feet long, the 2011 Audi A8 L W12 is certainly quite grandioso. And while the 500-horsepower 12-cylinder engine and new eight-speed automatic transmission are certainly nothing to sneeze at, what's most impressive about the long-wheelbase A8 is the rear seat accommodations. Holy mackerel.

As we were checking out the new Ford Start concept at the Beijing Motor Show, we ran into the head of Ford's advanced studio in California, Freeman Thomas, and the mini car's lead exterior designer, Jeff Nield.

The rumored extended range electric crossover we saw revealed in General Motors' design patent drawings is now a reality. The Chevrolet Volt MPV5 concept will make its debut tomorrow at the Beijing Motor Show, and just as we suspected from seeing Volt design chief Bob Boniface's name on the patent, this five-passenger crossover rides on the same Voltec architecture as the Volt.

BMW has used the Beijing Motor Show to announce that it will have its much-talked-about Megacity electric car on the market by 2013. Previously, the German automaker had only hinted that it would produce the urban runabout in the first half of the decade.

Also of note is that the Megacity EV will be launched under a new sub-brand, much in the same way that the automaker has used its Mini branch to enter into lower market segments without taking the chance of tarnishing the well-earned reputation of its corporate roundel.

Ford has jumped into the burgeoning urban car segment with both feet at the Beijing Motor Show with the Start concept. The design study was developed to look at ways of building a smaller, more affordable car using fewer raw materials. The structure is a combination of aluminum and high strength steels to keep weight down without sacrificing safety, while the body panels are made from recyclable composites that already have the color molded in, eliminating the need to paint.