Images uploaded on Chinese social media websites show that Volkswagen has previewed a new concept car that will be unveiled at next week’s 2024 Beijing motor show. Featuring a sleeker lineage than the German firm’s existing production models, the unidentified concept is claimed to show how the design of electric Volkswagens will progress in the future.

VW concept for Beijing: what does it preview?

The new concept appears to take the form of an SUV-coupe with a low-set front end, prominent wheelhouses, a heavily raked windscreen, an angular glasshouse, a plunging roofline and a shapely rear with prominent haunches over the rear wheels.

Officials with ties to the company’s design operations in Wolfsburg, Germany, remain tight-lipped on details and dimensions of their latest concept car. They do admit, however, that efforts are underway to provide future EVs for the Chinese market with greater visual flair and a more contemporary appearance than that of cars such as the existing ID.4, ID.5 and Chinese-market-only ID.6.

The image of the new concept car is accompanied by the words “design a new era”, indicating that the new design lineage is not only intended for a single model but a range of models.

The unnamed concept is the second model to be previewed by Volkswagen in 2024. In February, it issued a similarly darkened image of a new and more upright Chinese-market SUV model being developed in partnership with Chinese carmaker Xpeng Motors.