China rising: it’s the Qoros SUV

Remember Qoros, the Chinese start-up that, a couple of years back, promised an all-out assault on Europe with a range of cars to rival VW, Toyota or Hyundai?

Well, presumably much to the chagrin of the senior executives of those companies, Qoros hasn't quietly slipped into the background.

The Shanghai-based firm has brought the lumpily named Qoros 3 City SUV, its third production model, to the Geneva motor show this week, reiterating plans to stick it to Europe's big players.

And, like Qoros's previous offerings, this Qashqai-rivalling SUV looks entirely plausible, in a handsome-without-being-at-all-memorable way. It's powered by a very sensible sounding 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, and costs the equivalent of about £14,000 in China.

It isn't, we know, going to get your fizz gland fizzing in quite the same way as the upcoming Aston Vulcan. But it's further evidence that, like it or not, the Chinese are coming.

And the cars won't be the laughable, lethal knock-offs for which China was once renowned. In late 2013, the Qoros 3 Sedan received a five-star crash test rating, Euro NCAP hailing it as one of the safest cars tested that year.

"Remember 40 years ago, when the Japanese brands started coming? Now we all know they are there," Qoros's strategy director Daniel Backman told TG in 2013. "Ten years ago we had the Koreans, now they're established. We are the next ones. I think people have been waiting for the first serious Chinese brand. Now we're here."

Or very close, at least. Qoros started selling cars in Slovakia, its first European market, in late 2013, with a roll-out across Europe expected by 2016. Whether that roll-out includes the UK is unclear, as Qoros doesn't yet offer its wares in right-hand drive. We suspect it's only a matter of time.

If the price was right, would you consider this Qoros SUV on your sensible family shopping list, Euro-types?