We Attend The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show

Double Apex headed east to attend the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show courtesy of Chery South Africa. 

The international motoring landscape has changed significantly over the last ten or so years. There have been shake-ups in many areas, not least of all the importance of certain markets on the world stage.

In years gone by the international auto show scene was dominated by the likes of the Geneva, Frankfurt and Paris auto shows. In recent times support for those events has dwindled with new showcases such as Delhi, Dubai and Shanghai taking up positions of prominence.

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World’s Largest

The Chinese car market is the largest in the world by some margin. So it makes sense that the country’s annual automotive showcase would be among the biggest. The 2023 show hosted more than 13 000 journalists (Double Apex included) and attracted over 900 000 over ten days. 

The showcase was laid out over 16 halls for a total of 360 000 square metres. This year’s event played host to over 1 400 vehicles, 93 of which were global debuts, 28 debut from international automakers. 

New energy vehicles were big news at the show. 271 new energy vehicle models including 186 from Chinese brands were on display. In essence, there was plenty to see, not least of all the 80 000 tulips that Polestar planted in a circular garden surrounding its latest models.

Heading To SA

Chinese brands are slowly starting to filter into the SA market, among the more notable is Chery. The brand is the most exported Chinese brand into international markets. Chery took the occasion to show its Omoda (a brand launched in SA as of a few weeks ago) and Jaecoo brands to gathered media.

Omoda’s first crossover has already been on sale locally (read our initial impressions by clicking here). Jaecoo, however, is an all-new nameplate. Its first production model is called the J7. It is a crossover that places a heavy emphasis on style and tech. Big news is that the J7 is coming to SA within a few months (either Q4 or Q1 2024). 

The boxy crossover is powered by a 1,6-litre turbopetrol engine that drives the front wheels through a dual-clutch transmission. Chery also revealed its third-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle platform (PHEV). Chery will, in the not too distant future, start to sell NEVs in the local market.

Summary

The Chinese automakers were once ridiculed for models that were near clones of western counterparts. That time has now passed. The brands on display show a great deal of confidence, imagination, and technical prowess. Brands such as Chery are among a select few that we are privy to in SA, although there are countless more of which we are completely unawares. A showcase such as this show gives us just a brief snippet of the scale of the Chinese auto landscape.