Archive for March, 2009
Suzuki Swift – Pretty in Pink
Despite being a healthy, hetrosexual male, the soon to be pink Suzuki Swift is looking rather cute! Obviously trying to be a hit with the ladies, the pink Swift will launch next month alongside a ‘cool black’ Swift. The Swift has been a major hit for the Chang’an Suzuki group, and they continually launch new [...]
New Chery brands, Riich and Rely launched
Today, Chery launched their two new sub brands, Riich and Rely, both of which will make an entry into the premium market. The Riich brand will be used for high end sedans, and the Rely brand will be used for mid and high end business cars, (In China, business cars usually refer to MPV’s etc). [...]
Murky Roewe 550 hatch photos break out
The Roewe 550 hatch, which is looking likely to be an MG5, has been spotted out testing. Although the pictures are rather unclear, the Chinese media are reporting that the hatch is designed so that the 550 has a small ‘lip’ of a trunk, rather than a bubbly rear hatch like the Ford Focus. Information [...]
WSJ reports on Chinese car designers
Excellent yet brief article: China’s car makers are increasingly ambitious, as illustrated by plans to grow at home and, in some cases, expand abroad. One big impediment they face in taking on their foreign rivals: design. Big global companies spend years, and millions of dollars, designing new cars. But many home-grown Chinese auto makers actually [...]
Chery RICH brand unveiled, Chery Faira range finds its place?!
Chery’s latest sub brand, which is set to be named ‘Rich’ (possibly spelled Riich) was scheduled to be launched today, however, no news of its launch has appeared in the Chinese press. But, pictures of Rich branded cars from the Faira range were spotted out in a Chery carpark (above) The Rich brand was rumored [...]
BAW to buy Delphi assets
The Chinese automotive media is reporting heavily on this particular piece of news: SHANGHAI, March 18 (Reuters) – Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Co is seeking to buy U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp’s (DPHIQ.PK) non-core assets, the 21th Century Business Herald said on Wednesday. A government-backed consortium whose members include Beijing Auto and several [...]
Electric Chang’an Ben Ben roadtested in Boston….
Odd how the owner of the company, and interviewee Mr. Bernsten wouldnt say who the manufacturer of the car originally was, despite it being rather obvious. Automaker CEOs don’t make a habit of pulling up to The Boston Globe in a rental truck, dumping a prototype in the parking lot, and handing the keys to [...]
BYD M6 Official Picture – Its not a Toyota Previa
BYD are eager to spur their car brand on in any which way they can, they’ve built sedans, compact sedans, mini cars, and now they’ve got their eyes on building the below MPV: If you think the MPV is a Toyota Previa, you’d be wrong, its a BYD M6. M of course standing for Multi. [...]
Chrysler-Great Wall JV Comes to a Halt
Last year, Great Wall Motors and Chrysler signed an agreement to share parts, technology, and sales networks in both China and the USA. However, according to this afternoons media reports it appears that the JV has come to a halt as Chrysler is fighting for survival and Great Wall are concentrating on their own development. [...]
‘The small engine spring has arrived’ – 1.6l or smaller engine sales up 18%
The government initiated program to boost car sales in January and February has worked wonders for sub 1.6l car sales. The government cut the sales tax on sub 1.6L cars, and as a consequence saw sub 1.6l car sales blossom by an amazing 18.78% in January and February alone. In February, 820,760 cars were sold [...]
Golf Plus – Spotted out testing
You may be thinking that its ‘testing tuesday’ on CCT, what with all the spotted out testing posts, but bare with us! The Golf Plus is an odd vehicle, its neither a true 7 seater MPV, nor a small hatchback. Essentially its a heightened Golf, but shorter than its true MPV brother, the VW Touran. [...]
Volvo XC60 – China Bound?!
The Volvo XC60 mini SUV has been spotted out in China, sporting Chinese temporary plates which usually indicates that imports and sales are not far away. Volvo also just launched the Volvo S80L, L of course standing for lengthened. The S80L will be packaged with a 3.0L Turbo engine, and will be a main competitor [...]
Skoda Superb spotted in China road testing
The Skoda Superb is set to join the Skoda Octavia, and the Skoda Fabia in the Chinese marketplace later this year. The Superb has been spotted out testing a number of times, but these are the clearest pictures to date of the Superb: The Chinese market looks set to be receiving the Skoda Superb B5 [...]
Landwind X8 – Spotted out Testing
Clearer pictures have finally emerged of the Landwind X8 SUV out testing. Landwind maybe more famous for their zero star crash test which made Chinese cars the laughing stock of Europe for quite sometime. However, we have heard that Landwind learned a tough lesson from their European adventure, and are planning a re-run at the [...]
BYD Sales up in February 09, China auto sales beat US again
BYD are having another bumper month in China, bucking the economic trend of down down down. Sales were up 27.96% from 21,915 units in January to 23,819 in February. The sales bonanza is being credited to the BYD F3 compact sedan which sold 14,242 F3 models (the hatchback model, F3R sold 1,985). In addition, BYD [...]
Chery Tiggo3 to get DR facelift and 1.6 Turbo Engine
The Chery Tiggo compact SUV has been out on the market for a number of years, it’s still a good seller for Chery but its looks are starting to fade after 5 years on the market. Chery previously did a deal with Italian company, Dr, to supply the Tiggo3 body for their cool little SUV, [...]
Chery Premium Brand to launch on March 18th
This Wednesday, March 18th, will see the launch of Cherys premium brand. The restructure of the Chery brand will see the brand split into different segments, the exact details of which are currently uknown. Its understood that the Karry range of vehicles will be split off into their own sub brand, which will see the [...]
Chery Kei MPV Comes Down the Line
The Chery Karry range looks set to be increased with the addition of this interestingly styled kei sized MPV: The Chery Karry range is set to be Chery’s entry into the workhorse segment of the market. With the government aggresively pushing farmers and village dwellers into buying small compact vehicles for farm use, Chery are [...]
Geely still playing coy about intl purchases (i.e. Volvo)
The news from Reuters: SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) – China’s Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK), considered a potential buyer of assets from struggling global auto giants, said foreign acquisitions would allow it to secure technology and new markets but it remains cautious about possible deals. In a statement on its website explaining its views on overseas [...]
SouEast V4 Hatch – Spotted
Following on from the succesful launch of the SouEast V3 sedan in China, SouEast to follow up on the V3 with a new hatchback which is rumored to be the V4: The V3 sedan, which is based off an older Lancer and comes rather well packed with leather seats and DVD/GPS systems on the higher [...]
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