April 21, 2008 3:08 PM by Frank de Leeuw van Weenen Filed Under: Auto China
Euro-style is not just the envy of North America, Chinese car makers wants it just as badly and Anhui has called in the help of renowned design studio Pininfarina to achieve just that. Pininfarina is of course best known for its designs for Ferrari (599 GTB), Maserati (GranTurismo S) and other established marques.
Anhui and Pinifarina have been working on this project since 2005 and they are now ready for its unveiling. The 3-box saloon (A108) and 2-box hatchback (A107) are ready to go into production. The two cars share the same front end design for instant recognition, with the headlights embracing the grille for a sporty, elegant look.
The rear of the two cars on the other hand are purposely different, to give most cars their own appeal. The 3-box saloon is aiming to compete with the more up-scale saloon with the clean design. The 2-box hatchback will enter the sportier hatch segment and has been styled accordingly. Surely opinions will differ, but in our eyes the two cars could do well in and outside China.
[Update: excuses for the mix up, these are indeed JAC (Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co.) cars. Pinifarina has also designed the Chery A3 Jiaoche and A3 YunDong but no images or info is available yet.]
Novelties from Pininfarina for the Asian market at the Beijing Motor Show
World preview of three new models designed and developed by Pininfarina for Brilliance and JAC.
The Chery A3 Jiaoche and the A3 YunDong, which soon go into production, will also be on display.
Turin, April 18, 2008. Pininfarina will be holding the world debut of three cars designed for some of its Chinese clients at the Beijing Motor Show: the Brilliance Junjie station wagon, the JAC A108 and the A107.
The A3 Jiaoche and the A3 YunDong, which were designed and developed by Pininfarina, and will soon go into production, will be on display on the Chery stand.
Pininfarina was the first Italian company to supply design and engineering services to the growing Chinese motor industry, back in 1996.
At the present moment, taking into consideration the various ongoing contracts, 30% of Pininfarina activities in the design and engineering sector regard Chinese clients, underlining the company’s capacity to penetrate this important and dynamic market.
BRILLIANCE JUNJIE S.W.
The Brilliance Junjie station wagon is derived from the Junjie saloon, which was also designed by Pininfarina and presented at the 2006 Beijing Motor Show, where it won the “Best New Car” prize for its category. The Junjie station wagon, which was designed and engineered by Pininfarina, will enable Brilliance to expand in the premium luxury car bracket.
This car has an aggressive graphic design to the windows and the profile, which makes it both sporty and elegant. The stress in the lines is combined with rich, full surfaces that give the car a dynamic, elegant look. The rear is dominated by a spoiler built into the roof, which was developed and refined in our Wind Tunnel, and by the gem-like rear lights that recall the Brilliance logo. The interiors maintain the saloon’s classic, fluid lines, with greater functionality. The rear seats fold down completely, creating a huge loading area when this is necessary. The end result is a sporty, sophisticated station wagon.
The first fruits of the collaboration between JAC and Pininfarina, which got underway in 2005, are the A108 3-box saloon and the 2-box variant, the A107, for which Pininfarina developed the styling and the engineering.
The two cars share a few immediately recognisable stylistic elements such as the graphics of the front headlights, which sinuously embrace grille, giving the nose a sporty, elegant, exclusive line. The meticulously balanced proportions of the 3-box saloon give it a touch of class that is only usually evident in up-market cars.
There is a pleasant interplay between the concave and convex surfaces on the well proportioned sides, which give the car a solid, agile profile.
Pininfarina paid a great deal of attention to the design of the rear volumes in order to ensure that each variant has a character of its own, while sharing the same front.
While the 3-box model successfully conveys the impression of a luxury premium car that is difficult to find in such a small car, the two-box A107 has a sporty image that is created by the absence of the boot volume. The ergonomic interiors are carefully furnished, with innovative elements. The simple, sophisticated lines create a youthful but elegant passenger compartment. Great care was taken to optimise the use of space, where both passenger comfort and luggage loading are concerned.
Several other Pininfarina models will also be exhibited at the Chinese motor show, including the Maserati Granturismo S, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and the 2008 Model Year of the Alfa Romeo Spider.
I don't know the "designline" of Chery, but I have to say, it's a nice looking compactcar. The saloon-backend isn't my taste. to pragnmatic for such inspired taillights. Same models have special proportions, not the most modern trend, but therefor very interesting!
Good designed!