Beijing Motor Show 2026: Review

Beijing Motor Show 2026: Is there hope left for car design in China?

Author: Martin Groschwald

When you walk through the 17 halls of the Beijing Motor Show, you could easily think the car industry has no issues or challenges whatsoever.

The sheer volume of new vehicles, an almost unlimited amount of brands, and a confidence of the Chinese manufacturers that has never been stronger, once again shows that China is its own market. And if you want to succeed there you’ll have to adapt…or die.

A closer looks paints a different picture

However, from a Design perspective, China’s biggest car show has been grim apart from a very few exceptions. I didn’t have high expectations to begin with. Nevertheless, it feels that, while car design isn’t dead in China, it certainly is at an absolutely low point.

Or to quote a design chief who shall remain unnamed: „it isn’t car design anymore, it’s pure white goods design at the moment“. The „shameless“ (quote from another chief) inspiration, or copy, of Porsche/Xiaomi, LiAuto in the SUV segment, or the G-Class/Defender/Jeep style vehicles have led to a sea of cheap, yet mostly soulless objects.

Were it not for Hyundai‘s outstanding presence, the return of the OG Smart (despite a questionable CMF choices), and the best surprise of the locals, the Leapmotor Lafa 5 Ultra, one could question whether car design actually matters in China today. And I think we are quite some time away before this might get any better…

Where Western brands take the lead

The Western brands, particularly the Germans, all brought some classic vehicles to lead their stands with their brand story and heritage. In contrast, storytelling, brand, and product management has not been visible whatsoever with the Chinese brands. And although this might not be relevant for market success, it simply didn’t give me any reason to remember it.

Perhaps, that’s where the best chance for non-Chinese brands to succeed in China lies. They won’t be able to escape the on-going copy/waste culture, so they have to find a different way to stay relevant. And it seems to start and end with a brand strategy and design that currently cannot be copied, simply because it isn’t understood just yet.

In my predictions from January, I already said China is stagnating and that we shouldn’t expect any design innovation.
Beijing Motor Show 2026 has not only confirmed this, it has shown that this will likely be the case in the next 2-3 years.