Changan Automobile's outgoing design chief has conceded that Chinese carmakers cannot copy the retro design wave sweeping European motor shows, because their brands are too young to have a past worth referencing.
Speaking at the Paris motor show, Klaus Zyciora, global chief executive advisor for Changan and its outgoing head of design, said newer marques like Avatr, Deepal and Nevo have no legacy to mine, unlike Citroen, Peugeot or Volkswagen. His remarks came as European brands used the same show to debut nostalgia-heavy concepts, including a reborn Citroen 2CV and a Renault Espace revival.
Zyciora, who previously led design at the Volkswagen Group, was blunt about the limitation. "With Changan and other new brands, there is no heritage, so there is no legacy. We just started building it", he said, adding that in 20 years the company might look back fondly on a model like the S05, "but at the moment, we are not able to do that, and it absolutely makes no sense" for the brand to attempt it.
Europe looks backwards while Changan looks at value
The comments landed at a show dominated by exactly the kind of design play Changan says it cannot make. Alongside the 2CV and E-Space concepts, Volkswagen used Paris to preview the ID. Tiguan electric SUV, whose digital instrument cluster deliberately echoes the binnacle of the Mark 4 Golf.
Zyciora argued Changan's pitch rests on different ground. "We are bringing something to the table that is very deep from my point of view, value for money and quality, and you can sense that from the exterior and the interior" of its cars, he said. The subtext is a strategic split in how newcomers compete: without icons to trade on, the brand is betting on perceived substance over sentiment, a harder sell in showrooms where heritage badges carry real weight with buyers.
A quarter-century in Europe, quietly
Changan's executive team pushed back on any suggestion the company is a fresh face, noting it has been present in Europe for 25 years. It opened its first European design studio in Turin, Italy in 2001, later added an Avatr design centre in Munich, and established a UK research and development operation in Nottingham in 2010 that has since moved to Birmingham.
The company says it employs around 800 people in Europe and plans to grow that to 1200 within three years. That headcount expansion, announced alongside a design-led charm offensive, suggests Changan intends to build the very legacy Zyciora says it lacks, studio by studio, rather than borrow one.
The Australian picture
Changan has no design or engineering presence in Australia, but its brands are arriving regardless. Deepal is already distributed here by the independent importer Inchcape, while the premium Avatr marque has been confirmed for a factory-backed local launch in 2027.
