Dongfeng Number 1 Concept is a Sober Sedan on Citroen C6 Underpinnings
APRIL 21, 2014
By Andrei Nedelea Carscoops
The Citroen C6 probably was the most unique-looking and striking European sedan of recent memory. It may have had a partly-rubbish interior, but it had the cool self-leveling suspension and, of course, the styling in its favor. Now, a year or so after it was discontinued, we learn that its underpinnings will live on, carrying around the much more sober body of whatever production car this Dongfeng Number 1 concept will spawn.
It's as meh as it can get - a hybrid of old Audi A8 and Volkswagen Phaeton in the styling department. What a waste of a great platform and PSA's creative capabilities. I am losing faith in Dongfeng knowing anything on how to exploit Peugeot and Citroen's potential, but I hope this is just a side project to feed a big ego somewhere in Dongfeng's management board.
I also don't think this would ever see production. If it would, and Dongfeng would end up with a model with hydropneumatic suspension and Citroen would not have one, it would be a disgrace.
I wonder if whoever wrote it has ever seen the C6 and could point to which part of the interior was rubbish. The C6 was state-of-the-art in every way, it was only marketing that got in the way of it establishing itself as a major rival to the BMW 5er and Mercedes E-Klasse.
It also look a bit like the Caprice too but then again again most cars look a bit like another these days. I think it looks OK without being anything spectacular. It is probably being produced as lower cost (CNY275,000) alternative for party officials - an Audi A6L starts at CNY383,000.
You can't beat Dongfeng when it comes to styling and innovation. I wish this had been out when I bought my Corvette in October, I would have purchased it instead.
Is there no one in china with an original thought of their own? I can understand them copying military technology because of it's complexity and all but even their automobiles have to be direct clones of American/European/Asian makes?
Why reinvent the wheel. Anyway one company puts out a hybrid so others follow suit, one produces an SUV so the rest do. Copying in some degrees is not new. The Chinese are just starting to understand the concept of ownership of a design. Also China is a part of Asia so it is no surprise the follow Asian trends and even buy obsolete tooling to keep their development cost down. It is no different to buying a second hand car and letting the original owner cop the depreciation and teething problems. They can buy engine technology that they know is reliable. That is why so many Chinese brands have Mitsubishi motors in them.
While I applaud the effort in covering the Beijing Autoshow, I can't help to think that some of these articles and threads are a waste of space and push items of meaningful discussion off of the news ticker. I mean we have a thread for a JAC, SAC, Lifan, Dongfeng Number 1 (funny because Dongfeng sounds like a Number 2), Shenbao, and Haval but nothing on the VW foor door coupe (which looks eerily similar to a sedan) and limited coverage of the MKX and the 2016 Cruze.
There have been so many debuts and concepts at Beijing that not all could be reported at once. There is also the Black Veyron plus others that might still be reported.
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