The 29th Chengdu Motor Show opened at the Western China International Expo City on August 21 with roughly 1,600 vehicles from close to 120 domestic and international brands. It runs for ten days, closing on August 30.
Ten days is long for a motor show. Chengdu has earned the length. This is the first A-level event on the Chinese calendar after the summer break, which hands it a job no other show has: whatever sells here sets the tone for the second half of the year, and every brand on the floor knows it.
What The Chinese Brands Brought
BYD took the largest coordinated presence, pulling Dynasty and Ocean together with Denza, Fangchengbao and Yangwang under one roof and leading on flash charging and driver assistance. Chery Group filled its stand with 38 models across all five of its brands. Great Wall Motor, Geely Galaxy, Hongqi, BAIC, Deepal and Voyah all used the show to widen their new energy and intelligent vehicle lineups rather than to launch a single halo car.
The Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance took its own exhibition area, and Avatr showed a concept. Urban navigation assistance and automated parking, the two most demanding driver-assistance functions in the Chinese market, appeared as standard equipment on newly launched models rather than as options on the top trim. That is the shift worth recording from this edition.
Foreign brands adapted rather than translated. Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen led on intelligent electrification. Audi, Volkswagen, Buick, Toyota and Honda all showed electric and connected models built specifically for Chinese buyers. Mercedes-Benz gave the long-wheelbase GLE its global debut here, which is a sentence that would have been unthinkable at a regional Chinese show a decade ago.
Chengdu Is Now Part Of The Story, Not Just The Venue
The organizers created a dedicated exhibition area for the Chengdu-made intelligent connected vehicle supply chain for the first time, covering batteries, electric drive systems and connectivity hardware. Volvo, Zeekr, Lynk & Co and Jetta all build cars in the city, and all four had locally produced vehicles on the floor.
There is also a model-car zone this year, another first, plus weekend events aimed at the general public. Liu Guoliang, general manager of co-organizer Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai, described the ambition as building the show into an automotive culture carnival. A market that sold 24.3 percent fewer passenger vehicles in the first half of 2026 has good reason to start selling the experience alongside the metal.
Sichuan's capital has spent a decade turning itself into western China's automotive manufacturing and consumption hub, and the show now doubles as a matchmaking floor between local manufacturers and overseas buyers. Exports are the growth line in Chinese automotive right now, and Chengdu wants to be a port of departure rather than a regional showroom.
BMW opened the order books during the show for the long-wheelbase Neue Klasse iX3, priced from 269,900 yuan for the entry 30L. The next A-level Chinese show is Auto Guangzhou in November.
