Currently reading: Stars of the Shanghai motor show

The Autocar team scour the halls, reports and pictures to select the cars that most excited them from the show floors in Shanghai

There was plenty to see in the show halls of Shanghai, and no shortage of things to talk about. Whether it was new supercars, the unstoppable march of the SUV or the conspicuous familiarity of some of the homemade newcomers to some established models, there was plenty to catch the eyes and ears of visitors.  

Jim Holder

Appealing for how it looks and its intent, but the real triumph of the Citroen Aircross is the exterior styling, which proves beyond doubt that the template set by the quirky C4 Cactus can be adapted and interpreted into a variety of bodystyles without any risk of becoming a caricature. 

Matt Burt

If the definition of a Shanghai show star is the vehicle you spend longest gawping at in open-jawed disbelief, the Startech Range Rover pick-up gets my vote. There seemed little point in asking the Brabus-related tuning company why they made it, because the answer would simply be “why not?”. 

Andrew Frankel

While I wouldn’t call the Mercedes-Benz GLC coupe a landmark in automotive styling, I’m impressed by how well integrated and attractive its shape is, especially given how some of its rivals look. It bodes well for the normal GLC too, which we will see for real this summer. AF

Nigel Donnelly

Burt claims that the open-jawed disbelief market in Shanghai was cornered by the Startech Range Rover, but it was another Land Rover corruption that gets my vote. For the sheer brass neck of thinking it acceptable to fashion a crude facsimile of a production car and pass it off as your own, the LandWind X7 demands attention. Sadly, not for the right reasons. That it is now cleared for production boggles the mind. 

Aaron Smith

At £126k, McLaren's 540C could prove to be the honey in the company's ever-expanding range of supercars, especially given the fact it's £17,250 less than its 570S bigger brother, but with only a 30bhp deficit. I can feel a group test coming on with its German rivals...

Matthew Burrow

With so many SUVs on the market, I'm surprised that another one is my star of the show. It's good to see the MG GS SUV on display in Shanghai, especially since it's stayed so close to the look of the concept and because the interior looks more inviting than MG's current offerings'. Could the GS improve MG's sales in the UK? I think so, but the diesel engine is a must for success in Europe.

John Howell

I drove a Lincoln Town Car from LA to San Francisco a few years back. Objectively it wasn't great, but that didn’t stop me falling in love with the chromium-clad brute and it made my trip. So I’m hoping that Ford throws everything at the new Lincoln Continental concept first seen in New York and gives us something rather special.

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Mark Pearson 

There’s definitely something intriguing about a 493bhp Peugeot 308.  The R Hybrid combines a 1.6-litre petrol engine with two electric motors, and will see off 0-62mph in 4.0 seconds. However, thanks to its plug-in tech, this beefed up, four-wheel drive hot-hatch has CO2 emissions of just 70g/km. Production looks a real possibility.

 

The full Autocar Shanghai show report is available to view here 

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