Archive for April, 2009
BYD’s MPV Offerings
BYD had two MPV’s on display this year at the Shanghai Car Show, one of which appeared to be a unique design, and the other was certainly Toyota inspired: The BYD E6 seemed to have a hint of Range Rover about its posterior, but the front end look rather pleasing The E6 is built on [...]
Buick Regal 2.0Turbo – 250,000-300,000rmb
The new Buick Regal is set to get itself a new 2.0 Turbo brother, that will retail for between 250,000rmb and 300,000rmb. CCT was first dissapointed that there wasn’t a 2.0T model available, but it seems that GM have realized their error after reading CCT (this is probably not true) and swiftly launched the 2.0T [...]
Guangzhou and Fiat reach agreement on JV
According to todays media reports, Fiat and Guangzhou Auto have reached an agreement regarding the research and development of small vehicles in the PRC. Previously it was thought that due to the poor economy this year, Fiat were unwilling to commit further to Guangzhou at this stage. The plans for the JV have yet to [...]
MGTF 85th Anniversary Edition
MG UK, the British arm of MG brand, have launched their 85th anniversary special edition of the once popular MGTF sports car: Whilst the car does look absolutely fantastic, we can’t but help but agree with one British gad who said: It’s like someone dressing up a pensioner as gangster rapper The LE500, which was [...]
Brilliance EV to be produced in 2012
The Brilliance EV that Brilliance introduced last week at the Shanghai Auto Show last week is due to be put into production in 2011 according to reports. It is widely believed that Brilliance will launch the EV in a mini MPV form based on the popular FRV’s platform. According to information supplied by Brilliance states [...]
Mazda MX5 to be imported this year
The Mazda MX5, the arch nemesis of the MGTF in Europe, is planning to hit the market in China later this year. The MX5 was shown off at the Shanghai Car Show last week, and was also shown at various other auto shows previously. The MX5 will launch on June this year, although pricing is [...]
Why the automobiles future is in China
Newsweek hits the nail on its 头 American tastes dominated the world’s automotive market for a century, but all that’s changing now. Today it’s the increasingly well-to-do Chinese car-buyer that industry wants to woo and win, thanks to this incredible fact—China has, over the last three months running, surpassed the U.S. in terms of volume [...]
Chery Rely X5 – Makes us wish for the reckoning
Chery have the capability to make some great looking cars, some okay looking cars, and then some really damned ugly cars: The Reely X5 is due to launch in the second half of this year, under a slightly pointless brand name, and with a ridiculous moniker. The only good thing about this SUV is the [...]
HuaTai Changes Name to Hawtai, Copies Great Wall Trademark
Last year I wrote about how HuaTai managed to copy not just one but two famous international logos and feature them on a billboard at the Beijing Airport. Continuing their copy excellence Huatai managed to out do themselves this year. First it appears that they have transferred their embarrassing BMW + Microsoft logo to their [...]
Chang’an Concept Car
The Chang’an Concept car was slightly ridiculed over at Autoblog for looking a little like a Citroen concept, although as the Chang’an concept is so abstract, we couldn’t see any sort of resemblance. From what we understand, the little Chang’an E301 is expected to come with an electric or hybrid drivechain. In the pictures, the [...]
Dear Haima: Im very sorry!
Now that the show is practically over, and I’m very far away from Shanghai, and more importantly Hainan Island where Haima are based, I feel that is high time I apologised. The reasoning for my apology is quite simple, I pulled the door handle off your Haima M concept car. I say pulled, it sort [...]
Geely goes Logo Loco
Geely and their logo / brand campaign has been an ongoing source for interesting articles for many years. While Ash has written about Geely’s multi-brand strategy in the past Auto Shanghai 2009 was the first time we were able to see it in action. Don’t get me wrong, I like Geely. I personally like the [...]
MG6: The Verdict
The MG6 concept car was on show this week alongside the Roewe N1 concept, but it was clear that the MG6 was the main target of attention. MG’s new Chinese owners, Nanjing, and subsequently, Shanghai Automotive, have grouped their amazing pool of talent together to produce a fantastic looking concept car that looks quite close [...]
The Roewe N1: It’s not great, but it’s not bad either
The Roewe N1 concept car was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show this week, it drew in the crowds to the rather large SAIC stand, but it was greatly out done by the fantastic MG6. You see, the W2 concept car (which later became the Roewe 550) was a new begining, but an extension of [...]
Geely Stealy – Why the Geely GE is a massive step back
When I was a child my dad returned home from a trip to China with a fake Rolex which he gave me as a birthday present. I was amazed at how close it looked to his real Rolex. Naively I asked if the Chinese can copy a Rolex, why don’t they copy the Rolls Royce? [...]
Zotye comes of age and finds an identity
The Zotye brand has been without a clear logo or branding since its conception several years. Zotye started with the Daihatsu Tarios, which they renamed the ‘Zotye’ and then became the 2008, and then the 5008. It’s the latest 5008 model that they’ve put on show in Shanghai, complete with a rather odd logo, and [...]
Shanghai is very, very wet.
So far so good: The MG6 is EXCELLENT The Roewe N1 does nothing for me. The SouEast Lancer is…. a let down. Changfeng stand is interesting. Geely stand is a maze. Chery stands are split between Chery EV, Riich, Rely, and then Karry off in a another stand. It’s raining too much The traffic is [...]
CBU Presents Premier New Energy Auto Conference
Along with the 2009 Auto Shanghai exhibition comes a number of different conferences, all providing crucial value to the Chinese Auto Industry. While the economic slowdown evidently caused China Auto News to cancel their annual conference, the automotive industry consulting group China Business Update hosted the 2009 Presidents Forum which was strong and well attended. [...]
Brilliance BS4 1.8T Mild Hybrid
We’re not entirely sure how this particular hybrid works, perhaps an oversized alternator that cuts the engine out at the lights and fires it back up as the accelarator is pressed. We will know a lot more on Friday! The 1.8T is good for 170bhp, and the gearbox is a new 6 speed sequential offering. [...]
Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is being billed as a mixture of van, commercial vehicle and a car, it still looks like a van though. The NV200 is expected to be produced by Zhengzhou Nissan in 2009, and will come with a 1.6l gasoline engine, and a 1.5l diesel engine. AshAsh came to China at 18 on [...]
Twitter!
