Published by Ash August 31st, 2008
in First Automobile Works.
Earlier this week, Erik let us know this piece of sad new:
From Beijing I got the message that one of the three still living Hongqi
(the old state model) designers passed away in Changchun the day before yesterday. This man, Mr. Cheng Zheng, was a very aimable and intelligent person who spoke fluently English, a language he had learned himself when he was locked up in his own house during the cultural revolution and the red guards hadn’t noticed his linguaphone course. Mr. Cheng Zheng, who was in his early eighties, was even nowadays active in drawing cars, FAW had a special desk for him at the FAW Car office, he walked daily (even in the hard winter time) to this office to work there. The Chinese car designer I liked him very much, an independent spirit, with a strong believe in the development of the independent Chinese car industry. We will miss him.
Mr. Cheng Zheng will be missed by many people, his designs for the first range of Hong Qi cars were amazing for the time, and many of them have lasted well into 2008 since their handmade production decades ago. Perhaps the most saddest thing of all is the fact that Mr. Cheng Zheng only saw the begining of the independent Chinese car industry, he was born in a time of great upheavel, then lived through some very turbulent times which lead to the delay of Chinas assent to the top of the motoring world. We hope his work is continued to be honoured by those who knew him best.
The Brilliance BS4 is expected to hi the German markets later this year, priced at 15,939 Euros according to Chinese media reports.
Germans can look forward to buying the BS4 from October 25th onwards. The BS4 is Brilliance’ second car since getting into the car making business several years, and the BS4 is the model that BS4 have managed to sell the most of. Since getting into a JV partnership with BMW, Brilliance have certainly learned a thing or two about car design, and more importantly car safety, especially since their disastrous start to Euro sales several years ago when they received zero in an ADAC crash test.
Brilliance are reportedly planning to introduce the base 1.6 model, as well as the 1.8 Turbo assisted model into Germany.
Photo from Edmunds.com
Published by Ash August 31st, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
Chang’an Ford are currently lacking an SUV in their line up, they do sell the Ford Maverick, however, that is an imported model and comes at a high price in China. Fords biggest competitors, mainly the Japanese brands, have already introduced, or plan to introduce compact SUVs into China. The domestically made Kuga would need to be priced competitvly to be effective in raising Ford sales, with the Honda CRV, Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai, and the future Chinese made Toyota RAV4 to be priced in the 200,000rmb category, its obvious that Kuga will have to be priced in a similar area.
The Kuga follows with the ‘Kinetic’ design theme that is currently running through the Ford range, and the small city SUV will certainly find itself a market in China, especially if its priced in the right way.
Published by Ash August 31st, 2008
in JAC Motors.
The JAC Bin Yue 2.0 Auto model will be launched in September 2008, this time with the option of a 2.0l engine paired to an automatic transmission.
The Bin Yue’s engine is of Mitsubishi stock, and meets Chinese 5 emissions standards. The engine is a 4 cylinder, 16v model sporting MIVEC technology.
The Bin Yue has twin airbags, as well as ABS and EBD, and various BOSCH supplied parts. Sales figures for the 2.0 Manual Binyue from Jan to July 2008 stand at a respectable 6500 units, with the addition of an automatic gearbox JAC are likely to appeal to an even wider audience, and we can expect the Binyue to double its sales in the next half. Pricing of the autobox Binyue is currently unknown, but CCT can guess around the 120,000rmb marker and rising.
Published by Ash August 28th, 2008
in Chang'an Suzuki.
Suzuki are the kings of revamping their motors to give them an extra bit of shelf time on the market. Previously they upped the excellent Swift from a 1.3l to a 1.5l, and now the SX4 is getting the same treatment, from a 1.6 to a 1.8l model.
The 1.8l is part of a special edition SX4 that will only run for a certain amount of time. The exterior of the SX4 has pretty much continued with the same lines, however, the grill has been updated slightly which gives it a much more sporty look, it looks like the lower plastic chrome has been added around the front skirt as well.
The SX4 has had reasonable success so far in China, but with the small crossover market hotting up, the latest incarnation of the SX4 may well help it further against its nearest rivals, the Livina C-Gear, PoloCross, and the MG3 SW.
Published by Ash August 28th, 2008
in Brilliance/Zhonghua Auto.
This was just found on a Chinese language blog:
Possibly the actual car that the showed off in Beijing!
Published by Ash August 28th, 2008
in Chinese Car News.
China is no exception to world car sales trends, in summer, its just hard to sell a car! Manufacturers have responded to this years unusual downturn with massive sales cuts on certain cars.
- Great Wall MPV - 30,000rmb off
- Lotus RCR - 18,000rmb off
- BYD F3 - 10,000rmb off
- MG7 1.8 - 16,000rmb off
- BMW 325i 6mt - 20,000rmb off
These are just a small selection of cars we’ve noticed with massive price cuts over the summer period, if you’re car shopping in China this August, you’d better move quick to assure yourself a bargain!
Published by Ash August 25th, 2008
in Guangzhou Honda and Chinese Car News.
Spy photos of the Honda City have surfaced only a few times, mostly in India, but it looks like China is getting in on the act too. Guangzhou Honda are most probably getting ready to show off the Honda City, but they may not have to do so, Chinese car fans are finding pictures of the new Honda City everywhere:
The design of the Honda City certainly looks interesting, the front grill gives us the impression that the Honda City is trying to become the ‘Baby Accord’.
Published by Ash August 25th, 2008
in Chinese Car News.
The weather in China has been most excellent for the past few weeks, well if you live in Qingdao it has been. Sure there has been the odd wet day, but the rest? Blue skies, puffy white clouds, and scorching sun shine! That alone made CCT wonder - ‘What soft tops can you buy in China?’ and our brief, yet interesting research was found below:
Continue reading ‘Rag tops in China’
Published by Ash August 25th, 2008
in Beijing Hyundai.
Since 2007, Beijing Hyundai, have been busy working on developing the current Hyundai China’s line up. Beijing Hyundai (BJ) have already updated the current Hyundai Elantra to bring a fresh updated Elantra to the Chinese market, giving the Chinese marketplace a choice of two Elantras, the new (above), and the old.
The Elantra was not the only model that received a makeover for the Chinese market, the Hyundai Sonata also received an update for the Chinese market.
Beijing Hyundai have received 5.1 billion RMB in funding for research and development from Hyundai in Korea, which will lead to Beijing Hyundai developing more and more cars for the Chinese marketplace. Apparently, all of the intellectual property for the Chinese designed Elantra and Sonata belong to Beijing Hyundai, and if Hyundai wish to introduce these designs to the global market, then Hyundai must pay Beijing Hyundai a licensing fee for each car sold.
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