Scalable Innovation In China: Automakers’ Next Step?
对不起，此内容只适用于English。
Despite poor reception from previous Chinese automotive brands exhibitions at what is arguably North America’s most influential auto show, the Detroit Auto Show, Chinese carmaker GAC showcases several concepts in Detroit. While Chinese branded car designs have vastly improved in recent years, they still struggle with international acceptance. It doesn’t help that, even at home, Chinese car brands are often overlooked in favor of more established industry leaders from the United States, Europe, Japan, and Korea. Automotive industry experts, J.D. Powers, predicts that China won’t be ready to go head to head with foreign automakers until at least 2020.
Read more at The Fiscal Times
Just a few months prior to unveiling its first saloon car developed for China and Europe, new automotive company, Qoros Auto Co. Ltd, shares insights into the design of its future generation of cars.
Gert Volker Hildebrand leads the design team in developing the brand’s unique and highly expressive style. The first production representative model, a compact saloon, will be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show alongside two concept cars that give a glimpse into the future of a b family of Qoros models.
Vehicles from the Qoros brand will be developed by an international team of experienced specialists and new, young talent. European automotive industry expertise underpins their creativity and they symbolise the dynamic growth of the modern Chinese metropolis represented by Shanghai. Under the direction of Gert Volker Hildebrand, Executive Director of Design, Qoros designers have developed an individual style characterised by the fresh appearance of this family of new vehicles.
Hildebrand runs the Qoros design studios in Munich and Shanghai with unparalleled creative freedom. ”Designing cars is one of the very best jobs in the world. But very few designers have the chance to design the badge first, and then go on to reflect a completely new vision and dream by designing a brand’s first family of cars. This is an exceptional opportunity, and I don’t believe there is anything more exciting for a designer,” says Hildebrand about his work at Qoros.
”We are not subject to the constraints of further developing a fully-fledged style, but rather are in the early stages of moulding our own tradition. It will just follow the new brand philosophy which is also in its infancy.”
The three Qoros vehicles will be distinguished by ”desirable elegance” according to Gert Volker Hildebrand. Their unique brand identity and exceptional product quality will be immediately recognisable. Long wheelbases and short bodywork overhangs will form the perfect proportions of these Qoros models. Subtle styling details emphasise the overall featured themes, and will always be functional and remain unobtrusive.
Highly individual: proportions and lines of the Qoros design
The well-balanced proportions of the first Qoros saloon create an elegant look. Graphical elements highlight its horizontal lines. The light-catching contour from the front headlights to the tail lights makes for a longer profile. The rear door section runs deeply into the C-pillar to provide comfortable entry to the rear seats. The comparatively high front section ensures a highly visible presence and the dynamic contours of the bonnet show that stringent demands have been made in terms of crash safety and the protection of pedestrians.
The chassis’ horizontal lines emphasize both the length and width of the first production Qoros. Its relatively high waistline and sloping roof line characterise its dynamic look and underline its solid premium build quality. The headlights and radiator grille are at the same level. The light clusters at the front and rear stretch along the quarter panels. Its sporty lines are also evident here with its wheel arches boldly projecting over the wheels – up to 19-inches in diameter – and the comparatively wide wheel tread.
Unmistakable: typical features of the Qoros brand design
The Qoros car brand is unmistakable. All vehicles will feature a consistent frontal ‘brand look’. Their proportions and premium materials are distinctive and exude high quality. A vertically slotted radiator grille contrasts beautifully with the front end’s fundamentally horizontal theme. It forms an isosceles trapezoid accentuated by a chrome upper edge. A second chrome bar in the lower air duct continues the theme.
The Qoros brand logo is centrally and confidently positioned between the radiator grille and the upper contours. The logo itself was also developed under the leadership of Gert Volker Hildebrand and bears a horizontally elongated, three-dimensional letter Q, which gives the impression of quality. The brand name Qoros is shown in upper case and together with the logo makes up a graphic. ”Our brand logo is a symbol of solidity and confidence,” Hildebrand explains.
Even when designing the daytime running lights, Qoros forged its own solution. Broad illuminated LED strips at the top edge of the headlight clusters ensure optimum visibility, which is beneficial to road safety and are a distinctive feature of Qoros models. Similarly, the LED rear lamps feature horizontal illuminated bars.
The alloy wheels boast an exclusive design that contributes to the unmistakable, distinctive appearance of Qoros models. The triple spoke design features the brand logo in the wheel centre.
The elongated front section is reflected in the horizontally themed dashboard that will feature in all Qoros model interiors. Even here, the layout provides generous proportions and is technically designed to generate a sense of generous space for passengers. The infotainment system – designed by Qoros in-house with a unique integrated touch-screen – not only ensures close communication between driver and vehicle, but, in particular, also between the passengers and the outside world. The extensive features can be intuitively controlled using the centrally located eight-inch colour screen. Devoid of switches, it is controlled by finger movements in an identical way to the latest smartphones. The Qoros design team also created the graphical elements of the multimedia user interfaces, in addition to the display itself.
Independent, dynamic, success-oriented: the Qoros company
Qoros was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between Chery Automobile, China’s largest independent car manufacturer, and Israel Corporation, a global industrial holding company. It is headed by Chairman and President Guo Qian, and Deputy Chairman Volker Steinwascher, supported by globally-renowned suppliers such as Magna Steyr, TRW, Continental, Bosch, Microsoft and Iconmobile, Qoros develops vehicles with an individual identity and a high level of quality.
The headquarters of the company are located in Changshu, a region of high importance for China’s rapidly growing automobile industry. A new state-of-the-art, highly efficient and environmentally-sustainable production facility is currently under construction in Changshu. It will have an initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year, and a maximum capacity of 450,000 units per annum.
In the growing Chinese automobile market, Qoros has an exceptional position, with a market presence and product positioning clearly distinguishable from domestic car manufacturers and international joint ventures. The first series production Qoros model – an elegant C-segment saloon – will be shown for the first time in March 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show and again in April 2013 at the Shanghai Motor Show. Thanks to an extensive focus on vehicle safety, it is expected that this first model in the Qoros line-up will be the first China based brand expected to be awarded the maximum five-star ranking in the Euro NCAP crash test. Sales are planned to start in China at the end of 2013, with the first cars arriving in Europe shortly thereafter. Further models will be launched at approximately six month intervals after that as the Qoros range develops into a full family.
Details about the first Qoros model will be published just before the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. In the meantime, further information about the Qoros brand, the company and its products is available at www.qorosauto.com.
Visit the official site of Qoros
A recent article from Want China Times highlighted the immaturity of one Chinese car manufacturer, which may not be atypical of the Chinese auto industry – and perhaps other industries in China. BYD, which is one of China’s emerging domestic auto brands, is in financial trouble as a result of various poor business decisions. One of these decisions was to copy other carmakers’ products rather than create original designs.
From a designer’s perspective, it’s interesting that the topic of copying competitors is so casually discussed as a legitimate business strategy. There is no mention of the ethical concerns of the approach – only of the financial impacts. Regardless of ethics, however, BYD’s strategy of copying competitors’ products has resulted in a dramatic loss of marketshare. As the article states, “this approach undermined the company’s research-and-development abilities, subjecting it to great pressure each time other Chinese carmakers launched new models.” Some of BYD’s domestic competitors, meanwhile, have made investments in R&D centers and hiring experienced foreign designers.
Chinese automakers are losing ground to their foreign competitors, despite three decades of partnerships with foreign automakers to exchange market access for technology. Domestic car buyers still perceive Chinese auto brands as inferior and less desirable to foreign brands. While domestic auto companies, such as BAIC and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, have hired top foreign designers to give their products a design boost, the strategy has not yet yielded improvements in brand perceptions and market share. For now, the core business for Chinese automakers is to continue manufacturing their foreign partners’ products.
“Originality is not just limited to mature auto manufacturers, two Chinese manufacturers in particular, Chery and BYD showed tremendous amounts of originality that was worthy of world auto manufacturers, these two companies seem to be singlehandedly giving consumers greater confidence in Chinese automotive products”
Read the article at China Car Times
“The designers find inspiration in traditional paper cutting, or in Tang (dynasty) paintings representing opulent women. Every model in the future has to have a good potential in China.”
Read the article at NY Daily News
有着二十多年历史的北京国际汽车展览会（AutoChina）,至今已连续成功举办了十一届，是全球汽车业界在中国每两年一次的重要展示活动。依托中国巨 大的汽车消费市场和快速发展的中国汽车工业，北京国际汽车展览会在展览规模、国际化水准、展品质量以及在全球的影响力逐届提高，受到中外汽车界、新闻界和 社会各界的高度关注和积极参与。众多国际知名汽车公司将北京国际汽车展览会列为全球最重要的国际级车展，中国本土汽车企业也将北京国际汽车展览会作为展示 自主知识品牌、推出最新科技成果的首选平台。二十多年来，北京国际汽车展览会始终坚持展品精、品牌全、国际化的办展理念和特色，致力于打造为中外汽车企业 展示形象、推广品牌、促进交流融合、沟通信息技术的平台。在全球汽车业缓慢复苏的今天， 2012（第十二届）北京国际汽车展览会有信心继续以中国持续繁荣的汽车市场和创新发展的中国汽车工业为背景，携手国内外汽车业界同仁，为促进中外汽车业 界的交流与合作、为中外汽车业的振兴和发展做出新的贡献。
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由Car Design News主办的2012 Interior Motives 北京国际汽车设计会议的召开恰逢中国设计界最关键的时间点。设计师们如何才能了解他们的顾客，并将品牌内涵付诸于设计？事实上，无论新老、中外品牌，摆在 他们面前的真正问题是如何在竞争如此激烈的市场上维系其在消费中心目中的品牌形象。
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“Q: Do you think cars designed in China will be accepted by overseas consumers?
Certainly, as long as the brand identity and brand promise is articulated correctly. For instance, designers here in China were responsible for the award-winning Buick LaCrosse interior design, which also retails in the U.S, as the same model. The local designers can understand the brand and its “visual DNA”, and therefore can continue to offer solutions that meet the brand promise to compliment the international Buick showroom.”
Read the interview HERE
