Guangzhou Auto Show highlights
Ferrari 458 Speciale A – The brilliant
The 458 has been around for a while, although it may not feel like it. As with all the modern “entry” level Ferraris, the life cycle of each one follows something like this: hardtop basic, roadster basic, hardtop warm version, roadster warm version, super-hyper hot version, and then a bunch of Italian names stuck to that super-hyper-hot version, not to mention go-faster stripes. The Speciale A is just that. Super-hyper-hot. In extra blazing yellow with white and blue stripes.
Mercedes Maybach-S class – Potentially brilliant
China has a ton of new-money. Car-makers, in an effort to capitalize on this huge influx of wealth in the Chinese market, are coming up with longer and more luxurious cars to suit the appetites of the ex-communists-turned-filthy-rich in China. Which is why Mercedes Benz decided to launch the rebooted Maybach series in China, showing off an S-class that has gained Maybach levels of weight, length, width, and luxury kit. It looks stupid in my opinion, but will it hold it's own next to Rolls Royce, the other heavyweight nurtured by BMW?
Land Wind X7 – The knockoff to beat all knockoffs in the history of knockoffs
This is what you get when a Range Rover Evoque passes wind. Fart jokes aside, the Land Wind is a near carbon copy of Land Rover's highest selling model in recent years, and the hilariously unashamed copy poses a serious threat because the Land Wind X7 undercuts the actual Evoque by almost £25,000. Land Rover is seriously mad, enough to have announced that they will be taking legal action against the copycat. This is much more significant than faked i-Phonesand pirated DVDs.
Ford Mustang GT – The good
Enough has been said about the hyped up (and with good reason) and trumped up new Ford Mustang GT. As China is slowly teased out of it's shell of planned economies and closed off communist ideals, Ford is trying to sell it the American Dream. What better way to do that than to sell the Mustang there? It's as American as you can try and be.
Jaguar XE– The potentially great
Jag's sleek looking BMW 3 series rival is hitting China slightly before the rest of the world. Perpetuating the brand image Jaguar has in other parts of the world, China is has one of the largest markets for Jaguar-Land Rover, although they seem to be facing some heavy competition from lookalikes…
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