After detailing the notable foreign brands at the Show, it is now time to go through the notable domestic brands, still in alphabetical order. We will cover the three most impressive Chinese brands in a separate post.

New 212 concept car, named the Expedition Platform X Still plenty of physical controls in the 212 T01.212 T01 pickup

212

BAW launched the 212 brand in June 2024, selling an updated version of the legendary 60 year-old BJ212 off roader, named T01. Sales are still modest, at under 5,000 units over Q1 2026, but up 28.9% year-on-year. The brand is now set to expand beyond its original model and unveiled a very attractive concept car at the Show, named Expedition Platform – X (literal Chinese to English translation). Not much info on this car or when it will hit the market but it’s always good to see new Chinese brands progressively growing into a full range. The concept looks like a Defender from the back though. 212 also showcased a pickup variant of the T01.

Aistaland

Aistaland is a new brand with its own large dedicated stand, yet another collaboration between Huawei and a car manufacturer, this time GAC. The name derives from the expression “AI Start New Land.” Its Chinese name is Qijing. Its first vehicle is the GT7 shooting brake, a clone of the Porsche Panamera. As is the case with all its other collaborations, Huawei provides the intelligent vehicle platform while GAC is in charge of the manufacturing integration. The GT7 features a 896-line LiDAR from Huawei.

AITO M6 detailAITO M9 detail

AITO M9 interior

AITO

AITO introduced the new M6, which launched in market last month (1,116 sales). The headlights have a mist-like pattern (see above) giving off a very refined effect. The M9 (also interesting headlights design, see above) was updated and is now longer (5.28m), wider and taller. It’s an essential model for the brand, having totalled 280,000 units since launch in 2023. The M9 features a full electronic motion screen that rolls down from the ceiling and covers the entire width of the car.

AvatR

AvatR introduced the 06T, the carmaker’s first station wagon. As a reminder AvatR is a premium NEV brand and the result of the cooperation between Changan, Huawei and CATL. The cockpit is unchanged on the 06 we featured last year.

Baojun

Once one of the most successful brands the country, the Baojun brand has spectacularly fallen from grace with just 4,285 sales over Q1 2026, down to #68. SAIC GM is trying to reverse the trend by associating with Huawei for the Baojun Huajing series. At the time of launch in September 2025, this was the 6th collaboration between Huawei and a manufacturer after Seres (Aito), Chery (Luxeed), BAIC (Stelato), JAC (Maextro) and SAIC (SAIC). The first model of the alliance is the Huajing S, a six-seater SUV among the first to embark Huawei’s Limera in-cabin laser vision solution.

Beijing 81 interior Beijing BJ40 interiorBeijing City Hunter concept

Beijing Off-road

Quite an impressive display for the Off-road brand of Beijing, playing at home. The Mercedes G-Class inspired 81 is back with a visually pleasing dashboard. The BJ40 shows itself in an EREV variant and sports a cockpit surprisingly full of screens for what is at heart a rugged brand. Finally a rather bland but imposing concept was present: the oddly named City Hunter.

Deepal

The recently launched S09 SUV and L06 sedan impressed with their exterior design.

Denza

The sleek N8L was my favourite of the brand, which also revealed the Z roadster.

Epicland

Epicland is a completely new brand (that I hadn’t heard of before), the fruit of a collaboration between Dongfeng and Huawei. It appeared twice in the Show: within the Dongfeng stand but also as a standalone stand in a different hall. The Chinese name is Yijing. The brand’s first model is the X9, a full size 5.3m six-seater SUV, logically equipped with the latest Huawei tech, including an 896-line LiDAR sensor.

Fang Cheng Bao

And here I was thinking Fang Cheng Bao was an off road brand. Not so, as the carmaker launched four new cars in Beijing: the S and SL sedans, S GT station wagon and Formula X supercar. This blurs the lines with BYD’s other brands but the Chinese have never shied away from confusing brand positioning. The bright green X was the centre of attention, scheduled for mass production and market launch in 2027.

Hongqi

China’s favourite luxury brand continues to expand, now adventuring into the rugged 4WD SUV terrain. At the show it launched the aptly named “Off road”, yes that’s the name of it. It was teased as a concept at last year’s Shanghai Auto Show. Now it’s here and ready to roll, always featuring the trademark red line in various spots on the car. Another more underwhelming launch by Hongqi was the “Global SUV”, so bland it doesn’t deserve a picture here.

IM

MG brand IM wowed with sophisticated designs and stunning interiors full of screens.

I love Jetour’s gearbox design Jetour Zhongheng G700 interior views

Jetour

Lots of activity on the Jetour booth this year, with the new T8 three-row hybrid SUV introduced, another boxy SUV trying to replicate the Land Rover Defender silhouette. Another novelty was the Shanhai L10 PHEV, with an odd exterior design. But to me the most impressive model in the Jetour lineup exhibited was the (not new) Zhongheng G700 with high quality and refined cockpit.

Leapmotor A10 Leapmotor D19 interior

Leapmotor

Leapmotor displayed a series of new models at the Show: the A10 hatchback, focused on global markets, the Lafa 5 Ultra (aka B05) sports hatch, the D19 large SUV and the D99 MPV. The A10 will be called B03X internationally which is a focus for this model – it was unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show last year but was new to me. In China it starts below 10,000€… Range is up to 505 km and 30% to 80% charge is reached in just 16 minutes. The D19 5.25m SUV is the brand’s new flagship. Its claim to fame is the largest EREV battery in the world at 80.3 kWh, enabling a 500km run with the ICE turned off. The D99 MPV was unveiled last December for the 10th anniversary of the brand.

Li Auto i6 interior

Li Auto

The new model on the stand is the 2nd generation L9, called L9 Livis but very similar to the old model. For me the attraction was the incredibly successful i6 SUV (#4 overall in March). So why is it that successful? My opinion is, the inside tech: The car’s centre console is made of two 15.7-inch screens extending to the passenger side, as well as a ceiling-mounted screen for back seat passengers.

Luxeed

The V9 by Luxeed is the HIMA alliance’s first MPV. It is imposing at 5.35m long, and is somehow aligned with the alliance’s common design. It sports creature comforts such as a constant temperature refrigerator that keeps cooling for 12 hours after power disconnection.

NIO

NIO saw its sales boosted by the success of the new generation ES8, peaking at 22,258 sales in December alone. The brand introduced the larger ES9, which holds most of the same components as the ET9 fastback. The ES9 is China’s largest electric SUV, coming at 5.37 m long, and the carmaker’s new flagship model. NIO also had a demo of its battery swap system (done in a little more than 2 minutes) in front of eager pupils.

SAIC

SAIC, or Shangjie in Chinese, is a recently launched brand, the fruit of the cooperation between SAIC Group and Huawei and will be sold within Huawei’s HIMA network. After its first model, the H5 SUV, launched in September last year, the S7 sedan and its shooting brake version the S7T are clones of the Porsche Taycan and Taycan Cross Turismo respectively.

Stelato

No new launches here, just a beautiful stand with classical music being played live. The S9T station wagon, the brand’s best-seller, featured prominently.

Xiaomi

As is the case every year, Xiaomi was the most popular stand in the Show and became suffocatingly crowded as soon as the gates opened at 10am on the first public day. A hedgerow of staff welcomed the day’s first visitors clapping their hands. It was the first time I got myself into the uber-successful YU7 SUV, overall #1 in sales in January. The cockpit is not as minimalistic as I would have anticipated, with numerous physical controls below the centre digital screen. There’s a HUD covering the entire width of the car but no digital instrument cluster for the driver nor the now ubiquitous passenger screen.

Also weird round additions to the big screen were a compass and a clock. Note the door handles are not flush anymore to comply with new government mandates. Xiaomi is about to embark on a new launch frenzy, on top of the updated SU7 just launched: a YU7 GT (300km/h max speed), an entry level SU5 BEV and three EREVs: the YU5 mid-size five seater, the EREV version of the YU7 and the YU9 large seven-seater. This should do wonders for the brand’s volumes as we eagerly await the launch of all these new models.

Xpeng

The brand presented the new GX 5.26m large six-seater SUV, available in BEV and EREV variants. One of the GX’s main features is Bosch’s next generation steer-by-wire system, including both front- and rear-steer-by-wire capability which improves handling and manoeuvrability. The cockpit is extravagantly filled with screens. A very good surprise in the Xpeng stand is the facelifted P7, more aggressive than ever.

Zeekr 8X Yaoying performance variantZeekr 8X interior Zeekr 9X interiorZeekr 9X headlight detail

Zeekr

Zeekr’s stand was very popular, being alongside Xiaomi and NIO one of the cool domestic brands on sale. The carmaker unveiled the 8X large SUV, sharing architecture and components with the 9X even larger SUV. It was the opportunity to explore the interior of both models, in each case very refined and equipped with large digital tiles. However it is to be noted that the 9X’s interior already appears a little dated with only one large screen vs. an entire tile going to the front passenger for the 8X, which secured 10,000 orders within 30 minutes of its launch.