Honda shows off concept C and S at Beijing

Alongside the Chinese introduction of its new ILX and RDX, Honda rolled out two concept vehicles that the company says presage new models to hit the Chinese market. The “C” in “Concept C” apparently stands for “cool,” “challenge” and “China,” which is er, um, iffy, but at least it's a departure from Honda's as-of-late anodyne exterior design. Though it rather closely resembles a late-model Hyundai dressed up in Super Sentai garb, Honda claims that the C's design was inspired by a dragon. How very magnanimous. Aimed at the Chinese middle class, the Concept C's production variant will see daylight next year. While developed mainly for the Chinese market, Honda notes that the mass-market people carrier that springs from the head of the Concept S will be a global model. Whether that means we'll see it in the United States is unclear. We do, however, know that the Concept S has some sort of hybrid powertrain and looks like a galactic undersea giant's pet cyber slug. Which, if you found yourself confused, is a good thing. Just trust us.