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Beijing motor show: China means (auto) business

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 22 April 2008 05:34 Only a fool wandering around this week's Beijing motor show would still dismiss China as some also-ran automotive market full of rip-off designs and outdated ‘new’ cars based on old Western designs. While all of those clichés were still in evidence at the Chinese auto show, the copycat mentality is much less obvious than even a year ago at last year's Shanghai show. And every western car exec CAR spoke to was in awe of the upward sales trajectory that means China is still the place to do business in 2008.Yes, there are still some odd automotive fish, usually small ‘three-box’ saloon in shape such as the Chinese market only Citroen C-Elysee and the VW Lavida (a Jetta/Bora Plus car with less style).

Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme launched

Renault has introduced a new entry-level Megane Estate - the Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme It sounds as if a Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme should be a rival for a Renaultsport, but it’s not. It’s the new entry-level package on the Megane Sport Tourer. But there’s nothing wrong with that, even if the ‘Extreme’ designation is a bit of an oxymoron (unless you think of it in terms of at the bottom extreme of the range).

CES: Cranking up Harman's QuantumLogic 3D surround-sound system

Yesterday we reported how Audi was readying a lavish 3D sound experience with 23 speakers and 1,400 watts of goosebump-inducing audio power. Not to be outdone, Harman had been quietly developing a system of its own: Quantum Logic 3D brings together 25 speakers and more than 2,000 watts of Tubthumping power to a new car near you, like driving inside Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Sitting inside the demonstration BMW 7-Series that Harman painstakingly lifted into the Studio at the Palms, Global Audio Engineering vice president Phil Muzio explained, "great music is delivered in stereo, yet our consumer research indicates that people enjoy surround sound." QuantumLogic 3D's surround sound expands beyond the boundaries of the vehicle's cabin, providing "a sense of detail and spatial placement that you don't get in stereo." Five height component speakers mounted in the corners of the headliner, and above the rearview mirror, elevates audio beyond the confines of the roof, "almost like you're in a convertible," said Muzio.