Chinas New Car

Guangzhou’s amazing array of concept cars stunned an impressed public at the Beijing Auto Show two years ago. Guangzhou currently works with two of the biggest automotive brands in the world, Honda and Toyota, has likely learned a thing or two about engineering, quality and R&D. Guangzhou Auto also recently signed up with Fiat to produce cars in China, but prior to the Fiat JV, Guangzhou purchased the rights to an outgoing Alfa Romeo platform that is likely to be the base for the below car:
 As you can see, the car has been spotted on two occasions. The white one is quite similar to the Guangzhou Auto’s VIP Lounge concept car (top, left), which is expected to go into production in 2010. Guangzhou are apparently trying to capture the ’sports-business’ niche that has yet to be fully tapped in China, other vehicles which compete in this segment would be the Honda Spirior, and the MG7.

From the spy pictures, the black vehicle appears to be roughly the same size as the Alfa 166 that it is based on, but the body work appears to be quite different. It’s still unclear what engines Guangzhou will put in these rather fine looking cars, will it be a Fiat sourced powerplant, or something they’ve cooked up themselves, although there are rumors of Guangzhou building their own 1.4T 1.8 and 2.0l engines for their future car line up. The white tester vehicle also shows a blurry “A” on the back. which could mean that Guangzhou are planning to run with their own ‘Acumen’ brand, rather than using the Guangzhou name.