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Beijing motor show: China means (auto) business

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 22 April 2008 05:34 Only a fool wandering around this week's Beijing motor show would still dismiss China as some also-ran automotive market full of rip-off designs and outdated ‘new’ cars based on old Western designs. While all of those clichés were still in evidence at the Chinese auto show, the copycat mentality is much less obvious than even a year ago at last year's Shanghai show. And every western car exec CAR spoke to was in awe of the upward sales trajectory that means China is still the place to do business in 2008.Yes, there are still some odd automotive fish, usually small ‘three-box’ saloon in shape such as the Chinese market only Citroen C-Elysee and the VW Lavida (a Jetta/Bora Plus car with less style).

Designer Interviews: Giorgetto Giugiaro

Ask any aficionado who the greatest car designer of all time is and Giorgetto Giugiaro will be the name on most lips. Responsible for more than 200 vehicles, equating to some 60-million production cars on the road as well as dozens of concepts for the world's finest car brands – not to mention cameras for Nikon, electronic organs for Bontempi and even a type of pasta – he is without equal. Born on 7 August 1938 in Garessio, northern Italy, he started his career with Fiat in the mid-1950s, aged 17.

Ghosn wants to expand Daimler ties; calls alliance a ‘powerhouse'

With chatter swirling about potential expansion of the Renault-Nissan alliance, CEO Carlos Ghosn on Thursday put his support directly into expanding the automakers' relationship with Daimler AG. “We know we have a powerhouse,” Ghosn said in a media roundtable at the Paris auto show. “When you add the R&D of Renault, Nissan and Daimler, we are the largest in the industry,” Ghosn said.