Many visitors to the Beijing motor show will have missed this Yanfeng Visteon concept tucked away in one of supplier halls, but studio manager Shizuki Kajiyama is well known to us here at CDN and was keen to show us around his Chinese design team's latest creation. This 3.2m electric city car uses very simple surfaces and relies on recessed glazed areas to provide graphic interest, yet there's an inherent 'rightness' to the design that's most appealing.
The lower edge of the upright windscreen rolls seamlessly into the short solar panel hood and the doors are formed by a large pane of 10mm polycarbonate. The overhanging roof profile is inspired by Chinese roofs and the resulting chamfer subsequently loops around the car to frame the blue-glazed doors and hood. This same loop theme is continued in the interior, where the white ribbon-like strips of the console and IP twist up the inner A-pillars and into the roof, yet are always free-floating away from the structural pillars behind - a most intriguing treatment. Other neat details include the charging socket on the front fender framed in a matching blue to the glass and a double-access trunklid, similar to that on the original Renault Modus.
When the car is parked, the interior can transform itself into a personal entertainment space. The two game pads that comprise the vertical center stack can be detached, allowing a pair of huge 19-inch screens to swing out like aircraft tables and open up to fill the entire windscreen for playing games or watching movies - hence the requirement for the extreme front header position and upright screen rake. The two seats — developed in collaboration with Yanfeng Johnson Controls' seating design studio — fully recline to allow relaxation for movies or star gazing through the glass roof.
There are beautifully crafted details throughout the car, including black stained bamboo and chrome inserts, plus a bold use of 'Emperor yellow' fabric on the door pads and seats. On an OEM stand this concept would have attracted huge
