Toyota’s three Beijing concepts show surprising restraint

Compared to some of the concepts unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show, Toyota's trio of cars wins notice for their restraint -- no dragons, no sci-fi bodywork that could never be built by hand. Instead, there's a sedan that shows off Toyota's Chinese engineering abilities and a preview of a compact model the Japanese automaker plans to sell around the world.

The sedan above was dubbed the Yundong Shuangqing, a moniker whose translation means "movement upon clouds/dual support." Built by Toyota staff in China, the YS gets its power from the next generation of Toyota's hybrid engine-battery combo, expected sometime in 2015. The company didn't release any performance or efficiency targets, but said the YS could herald future China-only models.

The other concepts among the 38 models Toyota will show in Beijing preview a future line of compact sedans and hatchbacks Toyota says it will sell around the world. The Dear Qin (Qin also meaning "dear" in Mandarin, confusing linguists everywhere) may be an entry-level model for emerging markets, along the line of how Nissan plans to revive its Datsun brand in countries such as India. After the strangeness that was the FT-Bh concept from Geneva, these models show that Toyota can keep things simple and attractive when it wants to.