Published by Ash April 30th, 2008
in Brilliance/Zhonghua Auto.
Brilliance seem to have learned quite a lot since the BS6 came out onto the market a few years back, formally a truck maker that got into the car making business with a loud splash - the BS6 was their first sedan. The BS4 came next, then the FRV hatchback, then the coupe, and now the BS4 Wagon! The wagon was unveiled at the Beijing show, but pictures of the interior were hard to come by, below you can see quite detailed pictures of the interior, showing that Brilliance has definitely learned a hard lesson in design:
The interior of the BS4 Wagon looks to have been completely redone when compared to the original BS4 sedan:
DVD’s in the back for the kids, and plenty of room for storage with the seats down. The dash looks to have been re-done as well.
The Brilliance BS4 wagon was designed by the Italian design house, Pinifarina, who are most certainly doing some swift business these days thanks to the Chinese manufacturers. The BS4 Wagon is expected to go on the market later this year, prices are expected to start from 90,980rmb for base 1.8 manual models, 2.0l models are expected to be sold, as are potential diesel models for the European markets.
One thing is for sure, China Car Times sure thinks this Brilliance Wagon is a whole lot better looking than the (occasional) 3 series wagons we see going around China!
Source: Carscoop, and the ever friendly Shanghai Mark for sending it in!
Published by Ash April 30th, 2008
in Site Info.
We get asked lots of questions, we really do. We wish we had time to answer all of them, but to be honest we dont (:() but what we could do, is ask our readers if they know the answers to the questions we get!
Our first question comes from Chris in Shanghai:
Hi good day
Do you know of any skid pan and or car track in China (Shanghai area preferably) where I can practice advanced driving techniques please?
Kind Regards
Chris
So does anyone in the Shanghai area know of a skidpan, or a track area where you can just turn up and start slidin’ away?
Published by Ash April 30th, 2008
in Shuan Huan Double Ring Motors.
Avid China Car Times reader, Hunxueer, sent these pictures in of a BMW X5, ahem, a Double Ring (Shuan Huang) SCEO SUV!
The conversion from SCEO to X5 seems to be simple - slap some badging on the front and back, change the grill to a BMW style one, and dont forget to stick some BMW badges on the alloys!
Are Renault and Dongfeng finally ready to kick start their long anticipated joint venture in China? It may seem that way. Renault and Dongfeng have for a long time been courting each other with a view to entering the Chinese market place, currently all Renault vehicles are imported into China which basically translates into low sales due to high prices and the inability to advertise on a mass scale as they lack the infrastructure in China. Should Renault and Dongfeng enter the Chinese market together, then Renault would see its cars being made in China, at a lower cost, which would give them a price advantage against the local produce.
Renault are reportedly waiting for a ’suitable time’ in which to enter into the joint venture with Dongfeng, the Chinese motoring press are saying there is already a lack of suspense, its only a matter of ‘when‘ now rather than ‘if‘. Dongfeng and Renault joint venture agreements for car building date back to 2004, however since then nothing has come of it.
Published by Ash April 30th, 2008
in Nanjing MG and Roewe - Rong Wei.
China Car Times is hearing rumors that the recently launched Roewe 550 will under go some sports treatment and be re-badged as the MG6. MG and Roewe appear to continue the relationship that MG and Rover once had - Rover making classy cars, whilst MG made sports versions. The Roewe 550 is expected to go on the market around June/July this year all going well, meanwhile the MG version, the MG6 is expected to go on the market at the same time.
The Roewe 550 is based on a shortened Rover 75 platform which was developed by Rover under BMWs tenure as the owners of the British automaker. For more about the Roewe 550, and its state of the art technology, we recommend reading this article.
China Car Times thinks perhaps an MG6 would be a more suitable car, than a Brilliance Coupe.
Published by Ash April 29th, 2008
in Chinese Car News.
China Car Times spotted the above Chevrolet Aveo in traffic today, the three bumper stickers across the back are what caught our attention. The recent outrage by a large number of Chinese against the likes of Carrefour and other certain French brands has been expressed in various different manners - street protests, internet protests, and now the humble political bumper sticker has been imported from the West!
Quite a selection! From the left, we have the CNN with a big red line through it, the middle is an Olympic torch logo (sans red line!) and the right is the Carrefour logo with a big red line through it! China Car Times is still holding out for some Truck Nutz though, but in the meantime, we want to ask ‘What would you put on the back of your car in China?‘ The usual ‘No Kiss!‘ or ‘Baby on Board‘ signs in English don’t count.
Published by Ash April 29th, 2008
in Roewe - Rong Wei.
The Roewe 550 will be officially launched for the market at a SAIC show in June 2008 according to our sources. The 550 was shown to the world at the recent Beijing Auto Show and gained wide attention from both domestic and foreign visitors to the show, many acclaimed the Roewe 550 as the finest Chinese made vehicle to date, and who are China Car Times to argue with that?
The Roewe 550 is an ‘intelligent sedan‘ according to SAIC, this comes in form of the D5 digital dashboard which is also known as a driving management system. What this exactly does, is still a bit of a mystery to China Car Times. Obviously its based on the infamous talking Maestro, a distant cousin of the modern day Roewe 550. The D5 digital dash offers the RMI (Roewe Multimedia Interface) which is a DVD screen, GPS navigation, an ‘information delivery system‘ The autobox transmission is also hooked up to the D5 system, which apparently lowers the risk of electrical failure.
Cool stuff aside, the Roewe 550 does have a safe and boring side (although, there is nothing wrong with that) The 550 does come jam packed with every safety acronym they could think of: Slip control system (SCS) ABS, EBD, CBC, MSR, TCS, VSC. The 550 is also built to European NCAP 5 star crash test safety standards, as well as the Chinese CNCAP 5 star safety standards. The 1.8T engine, a modified K-Series engine (hint, no blowing head gaskets) has been upgraded to Euro 5 emissions standards, and is very fuel efficient with it needing only 6l of fuel for 100km of travel.
And in other Roewe 550 news: SAIC are busy working on a hatchback version of the Roewe 550, and possibly an SUV. Who said they didnt get their monies worth out of the Rover-MG fire sale?
Published by Ash April 29th, 2008
in Chery Automobile.
China Car Times has posted info on the Chery A6CC time and time again, but what we havent posted is the specification. The car was shown off at the Shanghai car show in 2007, but specifications on what might go into the car were not known at the time due to the A6CC being in the concept stage. China Car Times has since learned that the A6CC is expected to have a self developed Chery Engine, ATECO, which will be a 2.0l Turbo model paired to a 6 speed manual gearbox - previously we heard this was a 4 speed autobox, but the option of a 6 speed manual has appeared.
Published by Ash April 29th, 2008
in Volkswagen Group China.
The China only VW Lavida which was shown off at the Beijing Auto Show is expected to cost as little as 100,000rmb for the base 1.6l model. Since its release via the internet several months ago, the Lavida has been steadily growing a dedicated fan base in China. Chinese drivers do love their VWs, and the Lavida seems to be a reward from VW for putting up with years (read as decades) VW selling their not so popular cars (Bora, Jetta, Santana etc)to the Chinese, who actually turned out to love them and refused to buy anything else (until GM came along)
The VW Lavida has also been given a Chinese name ‘Lang Yi’ Lang means clear or bright, and Yi can mean leisurely, outstanding, or even escape. Obviously the English name should have been Clear Escape. Advertising for the Lavida has sprung up all over VW’s back yard - Shanghai’s elevated roads are covered in VW Lavida posters advertising what the Chinese press are calling, the VW ‘Mini Phaeton’ The Lavida will come with a 1.6l or a 2.0l engine, at 100k for the 1.6l version, we can guarantee that VW will have a hit on their hands!
Published by Ash April 29th, 2008
in Chinese Car News.
We never thought of Korea as a maker of super cars, but the Spirra S certainly turned our thoughts around. The Spirra S was originally designed and built in 2002 by Proto Motors, a Korean sports car maker. However they hit upon hard times and were taken over by Oullim Motors who have carried on production of the Spirra S in Korea. They hope to sell 100 of the Spirra S in Korea this year priced at around $100,000USD. Quite reasonable, for a super car that does 0-60mph in 4.8 seconds thanks to its 4.6 DOHC V8 32V engine with a power output of 320 hp. This engine is borrowed from older Ford Mustang Cobras, and is also used by certain Hyundai models.The showing of the Spirra S at the Beijing Auto Show could signal that Spirra plans to jump into the Chinese market, where a taste for exotic auto marques is growing at a rapid pace - on a side note, China Car Times saw two Ferrari F450s (both being driven by women), 1 Maserati Quattroporte, many Audi Q7s, dozens of Porsche Cayannes (inc several turbo models), and one Porsche 911 over the space of the weekend. Want to sell super cars and high end luxury vehicles? Best head on over to China.
Brilliance seem to have learned quite a lot since the BS6 came out onto the market a few years back, formally a truck maker that got into the car making business with a loud splash - the BS6 was their first sedan. The BS4 came next, then the FRV hatchback, then the coupe, and now the BS4 Wagon! The wagon was unveiled at the Beijing show, but pictures of the interior were hard to come by, below you can see quite detailed pictures of the interior, showing that Brilliance has definitely learned a hard lesson in design:
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