Beijing Motor Show 2024 preview: the Auto China car show juggernaut returns

An important fixture on the motor show calendar, the biennial Beijing Motor Show – also known as Auto China – returns in 2024 and is set to host some intriguing new car reveals – many with key relevance to UK consumers. We’ve not seen the Beijing Motor Show since 2018, the event having been postponed in 2020 and 2022 due to the pandemic but it’s back with a bang this year. 

We expect some big names will be in attendance with the likes of BMW, Mercedes and even Lamborghini all showing new cars. Of course, we’ll see plenty of Chinese brands like BYD and GWM showcasing their latest metal, too, and with so many Chinese manufacturers now selling or planning to sell cars on the UK market we’ll be taking an even keener interest in their output. 

Auto China will take place from Thursday 25 April to Saturday 4 May in Beijing and we expect further updates from attendees in the run-up to the big opening day. We’ll update this page with all the information as we get it. 

Auto China 2024: key brands A to Z

Below are the details of the major brands and cars we could see at the Beijing Motor Show…

BMW 

We know MINI will be at Auto China this year and we should see its parent company BMW there, too. In the past year we’ve seen the facelift of the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe in development on the public road and BMW may choose to reveal it in China first, potentially in range-topping M235i form. 

Looking further into BMW’s future is the Vision Neue Klasse X concept. It was unveiled last month, although this electric SUV is yet to be seen in public. A precursor to the Neue Klasse SUV production car, this concept features BMW’s bold new design language and an interior inspired by the Neue Klasse sedan. 

BYD

BYD had a strong presence at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and we can certainly expect it to go big at its home motor show in Beijing. Its range of all-electric vehicles should be in attendance including the likes of the Seal, Seagull and Dolphin. If cars named after animals aren’t your thing we might see BYD’s posh sub brand Yangwang bring along its gigantic, 1,180bhp U8 SUV. 

GWM 

GWM, or ‘Great Wall Motors’, launched the Ora Funky Cat last year to take on the likes of the MINI Electric and MG4 but it’s already been renamed to the much more sensible ORA 03. Now the Chinese brand has set its sights on the Tesla Model 3 with the new ORA 07. It’ll join the ORA range here in the UK in 2024, over a year on from when it was first unveiled. 

Lamborghini

Auto China played host to one of Lamborghini’s most important moments back in 2012 with the reveal of the Urus Concept. It seems fitting that the latest iteration of Lamborghini’s most popular vehicle ever will again be unveiled in Beijing. 

A plug-in hybrid version of the Urus SUV has been in development for some time but we expect the Italian firm to finally pull the covers off in the coming weeks. We’re likely to see a version of the Urus’ 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with plug-in hybrid power from the new Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid and an output well above the 700bhp mark. 

Mercedes 

We’ve seen the new all-electric G-Class testing and even driven it in prototype form already and now Mercedes is ready to unveil its new off-roader to the world. We say ‘new off-roader’, but the G 580 with EQ Technology – to give it its proper name, will crucially retain the retro-inspired exterior design of the internal-combustion engined G-Class models. 

The electric G-Class won’t be the only new Mercedes in attendance either. The Chinese debut of the Concept CLA Class will showcase the new MMA platform and we’ll see the debut of the revised EQS electric flagship, too. 

At a special AMG ‘brand night event’ in Shanghai during the Formula One weekend on April 20, Mercedes-AMG will show off its new GT 63 S E Performance – which we expect to have around 800bhp courtesy of a plug-in hybrid V8. 

MINI 

MINI has deep roots in China with the new Cooper Electric being built there. The Aceman will sit above the Cooper and below the Countryman as a small SUV designed to rival the likes of the Volvo EX30 and Jeep Avenger. We’ve already seen it thanks to some leaked patent images, showcasing a design very similar to the new MINI Countryman, just smaller.

Which cars are you most looking forward to seeing at the Beijing Motor Show? Let us know in the comments…