Here’s something a little unexpected. Forget awkward-looking mini-sedans and blatant copies of existing automobiles; Chinese manufacturer Roewe has just debuted its all-new N1 Concept at the Shanghai auto show, and boy does it look delicious.

A deeply-sculpted front bumper smoothly blends into a set of bulging front fenders, which flow into a  heavily-pronounced character line that extends from the front wheelarch to the taillights. It almost looks like the secret lovechild of a Japanese-market Honda Civic and the last-gen Mercedes C-Class; and while that may sound like a bad thing, it’s not.

The show car is only a concept, but ditch the big rims and funky LED headlights and you’ve got the production version. Chinese motorists can expect to lay their hands on the N1 next year, while the rest of the world will likely be denied it.

That kind of makes us a little bit sad.