Shanghai Auto Show 2025: the foreign brands

As is the case every year BSCB had the opportunity to visit the China Auto Show, in Shanghai for 2025. Thanks to the help of industry superstar Felipe Munoz I was able to visit the Show for the press day. This is the biggest Auto Show in the world, hosted in the largest Exhibition Center in the world, as it should be. For the untrained eye, meaning those not following the Chinese automotive industry closely, the Show can be overwhelming with an array of local brands the general Western public wouldn’t know about. But for you BSCB readers, there is nothing to be surprised about as the advances of Chinese carmakers are well documented on this site. To say that foreign carmakers have been struggling recently in China is an understatement. Their market share has collapsed from 65% in 2019 to 35% in 2024. Last year at the Beijing Auto Show they disappointed. Faced with urgency to reclaim market share, joint venture companies seem to have finally woken up.

Audi

Audi is the standout foreign brand at the Show. The SAIC-Audi joint venture unveiled a new, China-exclusive second brand: AUDI spelt in capital letters without the four rings. This new brand is aimed specifically at the Chinese consumers, and was present in two separate stands at the Show: one for Volkswagen, and one in the SAIC hall as SAIC Audi. The E5 is AUDI’s first production model. It is built on the new Advanced Digitised Platform (ADP). It sports a circular LED light both at the front and back, a departure from Audi’s traditional design and a debatable one at that. The E5 features an end-to-end digital dashboard and digital rear view mirrors. Its launched is scheduled for this summer, with two additional BEV AUDI models planned for 2026 and 2027.

Lexus

Lexus presented the new generation ES with the pure electric ES350e and ES500e. The ES could be produced in the brand’s very first wholly-owned Shanghai plant scheduled to start in 2027. The exterior design is an evolution, not a revolution, as Lexus has got us used to, a features a distinctive black-coloured crease on the sides.

Mazda

Mazda is putting a lot of hope on the EZ-60 SUV developed in partnership with Changan, but this is going to be difficult given the flop of the EZ-6 sedan, which just shipped to Europe as the Mazda 6e. The EZ-60 proposes a double 26.45-inch touchscreen extending to the passenger side and cameras instead of rear-view mirrors, a feature we are seeing more and more in Chinese vehicles, a now upscale Western ones. Rear passengers can also enjoy touchscreens.

Mercedes

Unlike Audi, Mercedes, with the new Electric CLA L, doesn’t stray far from its traditional design. Notice the model is launched as an extended wheelbase version from the start. The dash suitably goes end to end but the rear view mirrors are not digital. The German brand also presented the futuristic VISION V concept MPV, saying the production version will only have minimal design changes when it launches in 2026.

Nissan

The Japanese carmaker unveiled the Frontier Pro PHEV pickup, its first such model, which will be produced by the Zhengzhou Nissan joint venture. It will launch in China by the end of 2025, in Mexico where Nissan is dominant in Q1 2026 and potentially in Australia in Q3 2026 to fight the BYD Shark 6. The only other model on Nissan’s stand was the electric N7 sedan, which was originally presented at the Guangzhou Auto Show last October. Its sleek exterior design and luxurious cockpit impressed. It will be produced by the Dongfeng-Nissan joint venture.

Toyota

Toyota was our most dynamic foreign carmaker at the Beijing Auto Show last year, and it maintained its relevance in Shanghai. The Japanese brand presented a production-ready bZ7, the first joint-venture vehicle integrated with Huawei HarmonyOS. The brand is doubling down on sedans with the bZ5 concept. Pictured above is the bZ3X interior, up to modern standards and surprisingly sophisticated for its price, starting at 109,800 yuan (13,300€ or US$15,100).

Volkswagen

Apart from the facelifted ID.UNYX 06 EV, Volkswagen disappointingly did not introduce any new model at the Show. The German manufacturer did present three electric concept vehicles: the FAW-VW ID.AURA sedan, SAIC-VW ID.ERA SUV and VW Anhui ID.EVO SUV. The good news is that production versions of these three models is scheduled to start in 2026.