The Auto Shanghai show is becoming a new star on the international auto show circuit. This is by default because of the growing market for cars in China. China also has a restrictive policy on ownership of manufacturing facilities in China, so there are many home-grown cars on display. While those cars may not be available here now, they will be soon in the future. When they do get here, you can expect an upheaval in the car market here with even more pressure on the domestic manufacturers.

But what about the China market itself? Buick is the biggest selling brand there. Surprised? Yes. More Buicks are sold in China than here in the U.S. In the past, the Buicks sold in China were models no longer sold here, so the tooling was transferred to China. But now that China is buying so many Buicks, GM is designing models for that market. This year's Auto Shanghai has showcased one such model.

It has an old U.S. market name, "Park Avenue", but it is a new car. It is a full-size rear-drive sedan mechanically designed in Australia by Holden and styled by the GM design center in China. Holden is in charge of designing all the rear-drive platform cars for GM worldwide. As you can see from the picture, regardless of whether it was designed in China, it still look very much like a Buick.

This car is built on the GM rear-drive VM platform. A similar long-wheelbase version of the platform is already being made in Australia. It's the Holden Statesman. For China, the steering wheel gets put on the other side and the body looks like a Buick.

It is also trimmed for the China market, with emphasis on the passengers in the rear seat. They get wood-trimmed snack trays and messaging seats.

In front, you get Bluetooth, dual climate control, and navigation (300 China cities!). Also there are six air bags for safety.

For power, there are two V-6 engines, a 2.8-liter and 3.6-liter.

When will we see it at Buick dealers in the U.S.? Never. Why? It was offered to Buick dealers and they felt that it would compete with their wonderful front-drive Lucerne, so they declined. How does it compare? I'm including the Holden for comparison.

	Length (in.)	Width (in.)	Height (in.)	Wheelbase (in.)
Buick Park Avenue	203.7	74.8	58.3	118.5
Buick Lucerne	203.2	73.8	58.0	115.6
Holden Statesman	203.1	74.8	58.3	118.5

So it really is a clone of the Holden, but really is similar in size to the Lucerne. The longer wheelbase is common to a rear-drive car, and probably would make it ride better. I don't understand why a Buick dealer wouldn't want it in their showroom. I'm sure there are customers out there who wouldn't consider a Buick unless it had rear drive. There hasn't been a rear drive Buick for a very long time indeed.

What else was shown in Shanghai? Of all things, BMW decided to premier their 4-door coupe that is intended to compete with the rather ungainly looking Mercedes CLS. It is called the Concept CS, but looks to be very production ready. It is very much in the current Bangle tradition and was done by Adrian van Hooydonk (don't ask me to pronounce that) as many past BMW production cars have. Competitors for this model also include to to-be-introduced Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera. Like the CLS, it is just a 4-seater. BMW claims in their press release that it is a "unique combination never seen before [that] offers the perspective to enjoy sheer driving pleasure in a dimension quite unprecedented in the world of motoring. Indeed. With the above three mentioned, I wonder.

It is both sleek and low, and clearly aimed above the 7-series. BMW has not committed to production, but to me it is all but certain. How does it compare to the 7-series and CLS?

	Length (in.)	Width (in.)	Height (in.)	Wheelbase (in.)
BMW Concept CS	201	78	53.5	120
BMW 7-series	198.4	74.9	58.7	117.7
BMW 7-series "L"	203.9	74.9	58.4	123.2
Mercedes CLS	193.0	73.7	54.7	112.4

This shows a car with a shorter wheelbase than either of the 7-series models, but much lower and wider than each. The Mercedes is much smaller than any of the BMWs, primarily because it is based on the E-class, not the S-class. I would guess that the production version would, in fact, lose some width and gain some height. It also likely would lose the huge 21-inch wheels and crazy little outside mirrors.

There already is speculation about the powertrains available. In fact some mention an M version with a V-12 version of the V-10 in the M5 and soon-to-be V-8 in the M3. Wouldn't that be some car if BMW could restrain itself in the area of gadgets.

The styling is clearly Bangle influenced. I will say, however, that this appears to be the most attractive rear end BMW has done with the newer cars -- perhaps with the 3-series excepted. The front seems to have the biggest kidney grilles ever seen on a BMW. The interior is quite spectacular, with the new shifter design shown in the X5, and -- ta dah! -- no iDrive controller in sight. It is there, however, as mentioned in the press release. In fact, the innovation there is that it is done in a high-tech ceramic material. The front seats have rather odd "collars" that fold up around the headrests or fold down into the rear area.

One conspicuously missing item (or items) are door handles. They are concealed in the chrome strip just below the windows. They extend when you touch them and allow you to then open the doors. That is really clever, and if they get into production would be kind of a jab at Mercedes. That company's chairman, Dieter Zetsche, just announced that in a key cost cutting move, the company would use all the same door handles (and locks) on the cars -- and they would choose the best for all of them. Obviously they aren’t sexy like these on BMW's Concept CS.

BMW says that the size of the trunk is "hard to appreciate". From the looks of the car it would seem to be almost microscopic, with the appropriate tiny trunk lid. I doubt that a production car would have a tiny trunk (unless it was a hardtop convertible).

I wonder when BMW will start giving the press the "opportunity" to drive the CS Concept. Those typical concept car drives are usually limited to 20 miles per hour, but do get a front cover picture.