Explaining the Chinese Car Industry and Chinese Cars
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Sedan sales for the first quarter of 2008 are in, and the old winners are at the top of the pile as per usual!
No real surprises this month, other than No 10 - The Passat GP.
The Besturn sedan from FAW has found itself to be pretty popular in China, that popularity level is sure to be raised over the next coming months as the Besturn 1.6l Hybrid model hits the market later next year.
Pricing of the Besturn has yet to be announced, but we cant see it being over 150,000rmb to keep it competitive with the other hybrid models that will be launched this year from the likes of Chery.
update: Yes, it is to be launched next year and not this year. We heard that FAW are working hard to localize a lot of the parts used to make the car even cheaper.
The new Foton Mini MPV, named the MIDI is expected to go on the market in June this year. The little MPV is a 5 seater with a generous sized cargo hold.
Foton have the capacity to make 50,000 MIDI vehicles per year, the vehicles will be powered by 1.3 and 1.6l engines. More information on this MPV is currently unvailable, but as soon as we receive more info, we will be sure to make CCT readers informed!
The Chang’an MPV (above) is a pretty car, its got 7 seats, its loaded with tech (inc DVD and GPS Nav), its a 2.0l engine paired to a 4 speed auto, and best of all, its 130,000rmb. Not bad, eh? Now that the good is out of the way, lets take a look at the bad.
The interior plastics are quite harsh, and are of cheaper stock. Around the bottom of the center console where the drink cup supports meet the silver (see top picture, on right) plastic of the dial surrounds, the lower tan plastic is very soft, and does not reach all the way to the silver leaving a large gap between the two.
The door insert plastic is rather poor quality as well, especially where the the plastic meets the left hand corner of the door - it appears to have been gnawed into shape by an angry beaver. The dashboard plastic feels rather hard as well, and looked to be a different shade of black to the other plastics in the car, although it may have just been wiped down by a cleaning guy.
Overall the Chang’an Jie Xun MPV is pretty decent quality, the leather seats are spacious and comfortable, the seating position in the drivers seat feels like you are sitting in a large sedan, its easy to forget its an MPV.
At the price Chang’an are charging for the MPV, we’re surprised we haven’t seen more of them about, it easily beats the competition with its tech and comfort levels. The only thing left to do, is take it for a spin!
The MGTF is about to be launched in China (third time lucky, eh?) just in time for summer. The 1.8l two seater soft top seems to be popular with the Chinese motoring press, but will it be popular with consumers, after all, the price is far from low for a car of its age (although some would argue age equals heritage)
MG dealerships are currently accepting deposits on the MGTF, and MG expect that Shanghai based customers will be able to pick up their motors in the first days of June, the rest of the country may have to wait a little longer!
SOAR Automotive are a small custom coachbuilder out in the suburbs of Qingdao that make some ghastly interesting vehicles. The below vehicle is a Rolls Royce Phantom (?) like wedding car that they’ve knocked up. Interesting points include the RR grill (where did they source that from?) and the rather large wood work screws they were using to hold the hub caps into place. Other interesting points would be the body; its actually fiberglass. The paint job was not equally applied, and appeared to be unequal in certain areas.
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The interior seats looked pretty well made, the woodwork on the dash, although fake, did look pretty good too. The steering wheel wood work was a bit cheap looking.
China Car Times once said the Roewe 550 was the most beautiful Chinese car to date, however, since these photos came to light of a ’sports’ 550, we retract our statement. The 550 Sports is not an improvement on exterior aesthetics at all!
The black one on the left is the sports version, and the right one is the original version
China Car Times is currently at the 2008 Qingdao Car Show, possibly the biggest car show to be held to date in Qingdao. Many of the vehicles that were preseant at the Beijing Auto Show are in Qingdao today, including the MG and Roewe range. We’ll keep you updated and in the loop as the day goes on!
The current Europecostar RCR (thats racer) is a CKD import from Malaysia’s Proton, these kits are then assembled in China and sold to Chinese consumers. Europestar sales are currently very low, around 30 cars a month, according to a previous article we posted, but Youngman appear to be aiming for sales of 30,000 vehicles in the first year. Youngman appear to be working hard to establish a brand using limited funds and ability. Hopefuly the Europestar brand will be able to increase their dealer networks, and product line ups over the coming months.
The Europestar RCR will be domestically made in China from August onwards, which will also see the Europestar brand increased to several models rather than the rather loneley looking RCR. Future models include MPVs and SUVs ranging from 1.6l to 3.0l displament.
The Haima 3 sedan is quite a popular sedan, it has the style of its previous joint venture partners vehicles, Mazda, and has the cheapness of a domestically made vehicle. The Haima 3 hatchback follows on with the design theme from Mazda, especially the Mazda 3 hatchback. The pictures below, taken from Autohome.com.cn, also show the styling cues that Mazda has borrowed from other chinese made vehicles such as the Buick HRV and the rear bumper of a Mazda 3.
The Haima 3 will also have a sports model, like the sedan, which will have certain sports styling on the outside.
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