Honda will be exhibiting this Li Nian concept car at Auto China 2010 in Beijing this year. Li Nian is basically a Chinese market only brand that Honda and their Chinese partner Guangqi Honda Automobile (previously known as Guangzhou Honda Automobile – the namechange happened in April 2009) have been working on.This is not the first Li Nian car we’ve seen – a compact SUV concept built on the Jazz platform as well as an open top roadster that looks like it’s meant to be a somewhat like a next generation Honda S2000 was first shown at Auto China 2010 in April 2008.
This latest Li Nian Concept is a sedan that I’m assuming is called the “Everus” and it looks something like a Honda City with rear design cues from the Honda Airwave and a large Acura-like grille on the front. The photos don’t really give any indication on what size the vehicle is – the front looks very grand like it belongs on a larger vehicle but the side profile looks like a smaller sedan.
I am guessing that this is the City-based C-segment sedan that Guangqi Honda said they were working on back in September 2008. Honda in China is sold by two companies – Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda. In the C-segment market, the Honda Civic is sold by Dongfeng Honda, leaving Guangqi Honda with no C-segment sedan competitor.