Beijing 2014: Photos from the Nissan booth

Nissan is one of the fastest-growing automotive brands in China, with several factories in the country. That was made apparent at the sizeable Nissan booth at Auto China in Beijing. The company launched its Lannia concept, for the “Post-’80s” generation. It was presented by Chief Planning Officer Andy Palmer, the number three at Nissan. “Lannia Concept joins our growing family of China-focused models,” said Palmer. “It was designed by Chinese, built by Chinese for the Chinese people, and ultimately, for the world.” The name sounds like the Chinese “lan niao” or Bluebird.

The Lannia was on center stage with the Bladeglider sports car concept. Bladeglider has a center-mounted driving seat.  Nismo-tuned vehicles were also launched at the auto show, from the GT-R Nismo to the 370Z Nismo sports cars.

Palmer said, “We are very excited about the arrival of NISMO in China. Running one of the world’s premiere motorsports organizations, NISMO embodies Nissan’s motorsports heritage of passionately pursuing victory through continuous improvements in engineering. It goes without saying that to achieve such results, NISMO has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of innovation, technology, safety and quality, which transcends across all Nissan products. Entering the Chinese market is an important milestone for NISMO as it continues its aggressive journey to expand its presence beyond the racetrack to key markets around the world.”

There also plenty of well-specified practical cars on the Nissan stand, including the NV200 Vanette, the Paladin pickup-with-a-shell like SUV, and the all-new X-Trail. Advanced vehicles like the Leaf electric car and the autonomous-driving, and technology like the Smart Rear View Mirror, capable of displaying a much wider rear view that the traditional glass, were also on display.

Highly enthusiastic about the new Nissan Philippines Inc.’s (NPI) upcoming offerings, general affairs manager S.J. Huh was optimistic about bringing the X-Trail, which has a seven-seat option, to Manila. Meanwhile, cars like the GT-R and 370Z were also being considered, but would need a lot more work to officially sell in the Philippines. Here’s hoping that NPI will be very busy launching new models this year.