Archive for June, 2009
Greatwall denies Renault JV for Venezuela
We’re not quite sure how we missed this piece of info, but last week it was announced that Renault and Great Wall Motors (GWM) were planning a joint venture in Venezuela: Shanghai, June 23 (Gasgoo.com) French carmaker Renault is contemplating plans to assemble vehicles in Venezuela starting 2010 in a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Great [...]
Visit to the Yema Factory
Not only the Rover 75 and MG production moved to China, also the Morris Marina and Austin Maestro production lines were sold to the Chinese. Both ended up in the city of Chengdu, though in different factories. A reason to pay a visit to Chengdu and to look for the reminiscent of these vehicles. About [...]
Will Hummer become Chinese or not? The drama continues
Sichuan Tengzheng bosses were today hurriedly making their way to Beijing to discus with Chinese regulators the possibility of buying Hummer from GM. There has been a lot of chatter both from the Chinese national radio, and other media basically saying that the government will move to block any potential purchase of a brand that [...]
China’s first hybrid sports car – move over Tesla!
Below is the Tong Jian S11, and it is China’s first self designed hybrid sports car: The S11 was first unveiled at the Shanghai Auto show earlier this year to an impressed crowd. The car was designed by Shanghai based TJ Innova, the S11 looks fantastic, with Audi and Ferrari design tones slipped into its [...]
Chinese police to get Lancers?
The Chinese made Mitsubishi Lancer is due to go into production soon, but a police version has already been sighted in the SouEast factory, as well as a regular civilian model: China wont get a domestically made EVO but will get a 1.8l and 2.0l engines. The 1.8l produces 177Nm of torque, but power ratings [...]
Greatwall Hover H5 Sighted
Whilst we like to congratulate Greatwall on their brilliant Hover SUV, we wonder if their latest plan on creating a brand out of the Hover nameplate isnt just turning into a ‘bolt 5 new faces on the old Hover and sell them as new cars‘ exercise. Greatwalls Hover H5 was spotted out and about yesterday [...]
Facelifted Chery A5 – It’s nice.
The Chery A5 has been given a slight facelift making it look much younger, and more graceful than it ever has: The updates are largely to the front and rear lighting assemblies, which have made the A5 look more rounded and less harsh than its current boxy guise. According to our sources, the A5′s structure [...]
BYD Sales up in May
From Xinhua: Chinese automaker BYD Auto sold 144,741 vehicles in the first five months of this year, with F3 leading all BYD models in sales to 96,181 in January to May. The automaker said that it plans to sell 400,000 vehicles in the full year of 2009. As an effort to fulfill the goal, it [...]
BYD SUV – Fact, fiction, or some serious Photoshop work?
According to various websites, the below pictures show a future BYD SUV, but we can only a poor Photoshop effort: Automotive website, PCauto.com.cn reports that the BYD SUV (codenamed S6) will be very well specified to gain consumers interest. Engines for the BYD S6 have not yet been announced, but it is expected that they [...]
Sichuan Tengzhong might not get Hummer approval
The recent drama involving Sichuan Tengzheng’s purchase of Hummer is still on going, some reports say that the deal will be sealed as early as June 28th in just two days time, but the below news really puts the dampers on any potential purchase: From Reuters: BEIJING, June 25 (Reuters) – China’s top economic planning [...]
Dongfeng own SUV to launch next year
Dongfeng plan to launch their own branded SUV earlier next year, complete with a 1.8 Turbo assisted engine. Exact details have not been released yet by Dongfeng, but it appears that the 1.8T engine in question is from the SAIC range, aka the Rover K-Series engine. Dongfeng have had some success with their fengshen sedan, [...]
Honda Pilot to be made in China
Honda currently have two JV’s in China, one with Dongfeng that produces the ever popular Honda Civic and CRV. The second with Guangzhou-Honda that produces the Accord, and the popular Fit. The CRV has sold very well in China, and often clears sales of 7000 units per month. Since Toyota introduced their midsize Toyota Highlander [...]
Golf GTI to be made in China at last
Spy pictures have made it to the internet showing what looks like the latest sixth generation Golf GTI, complete with the Chinese name of FAW-VW along the back. It makes sense for VW to make the GTI in China, as the 2.0TSI that calls the GTI home has been made in China for quite some [...]
Mitsubishi Pajero to become a Changfeng Pajero?
Mitsubishi and Changfeng have had a JV going back quite a few years. Changfeng-Mitsubishi made the second generation Pajero (1992-1999 version) for the Peoples Liberation Army, and they also produced it for civillian use. The Pajero eventually fell under the Changfeng brand, as has the most recent third generation Pajero: The third generation Pajero retailed [...]
Test Driven: Ford Fiesta Sedan Review
Lets get something clear from the start: I hate Ford Fiestas. This maybe a bold statement to make at the beginning of a review of Ford’s latest super mini, but let me at least state my case. My dearest Grandmother had a 1979 Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus. I was often put on the back seat [...]
CCT Changes!
Our regular readers will have noticed that CCT has undergone a massive change. The change in design signifies a new path for CCT, moving away from just news delivery, and into more rich media content. Over the next few weeks, you will see the following changes: More News – Green news, interesting news, odd news [...]
New Chevrolet Sail spotted
Chevrolet has become GM China’s bargain brand and has turned into quite the opposite of it’s home market cousin with which it only shares a name, the products couldnt be anymore different. Chevrolet USA offers mid size sedans, gigantic trucks, vans, and the Camaro, Chevrolet China offers the Aveo, the Spark, the Cruze, and the [...]
SouEast V4 to launch next year?
The Soueast V4 is SouEast’s second self developed vehicle, and runs on the back of the well selling V3 sedan. S The V4 will measure (LxWxH) 4390×1750×1450mm，and will have a wheelbase of 2500mm, which makes the V4 quite a big car, and will possibly use the fastback design theory that we most recently saw on [...]
Greatwall M1 mini SUV to launch this year
Greatwall are planning to launch their M1 mini SUV later this year according to industry sources, furthermore the M1 was recently sighted testing inside the Greatwall Motors compound: The M1 will be able to achieve a top speed of 160kph thanks to its 1.3l 88bhp engine, and will give out 115nm of torque. The M1 [...]
GWM Perry: Starting price at 36,900RMB
The 2009 Great Wall Perry is set to start at an impressive 36,900rmb for the basic 1.3l version, as you can see from below the 2009 model is a handsome choice in the sub 40,000rmb car segment: The most expensive Perry is still comes in at under 50,000rmb, for the same 1.3l engine mated to [...]
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