Archive for September, 2009
BAIC and Koenigsegg to take on Saab
Beijing Auto Works have teamed up with Koenigsegg to take on Saab according to Chinese media reports from late this afternoon. The announcement comes as a shock to many, as it was expected that Shanghai GM would take on a sleeping partner roll in Saab from GM, but it seems that GM have favoured an [...]
Geely going for full ownership of Volvo, with the help of a friend
Geely is expected to team up with a Chinese investment company to take on Volvo according to todays reports. Geely believes that it is currently too small as a company to spread itself into Europe, and will partner up with a Chinese investment firm that will be able to provide cash and management skills for [...]
Geely teamed up with the State for Volvo bid?
This is a new rumor to us: HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Shares of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. rose Wednesday in Hong Kong trade, adding to a 3% gain the prior day, after reports its parent may be involved in a bid for Swedish car brand Volvo with the backing of a state-owned investment company.Geely Automobile [...]
Chengdu Bus driver angers passengers with lazy boy driving style
From Go Chengdu: A passenger took this image of a bus driver operating a public bus with eyes upward and body lying down. The passenger believes this is an irresponsible way to drive a bus; the bus operators have said they will call for an investigation. Imagine for a moment, you’re in a reclining position, [...]
Hummer deal hits on snag with regulators
So says Reuters: China’s Commerce Ministry has not rejected heavy equipment maker Tengzhong’s planned purchase of GM’s GM.UL Hummer unit, but has asked for more information on the deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.Legal Evening News, a semi-official newspaper, reported on Monday that the ministry had turned back Tengzhong’s application for [...]
Chery Reely brand and V5 officially launched
The Chery Reely brand was officially launched today by Chery, bringing the world yet another automotive brand. Whilst Riich is Chery’s upmarket brand, Reely will be Chery’s MPV/Business brand that will see a range of MPV’s and other ‘business vehicles’ being launched under it over the next six months. The first vehicle to be launched [...]
FAW remake the Hong Qi Limo for China’s 60th birthday bash
The Hong Qi soft top limo is a fairly iconic car to all Chinese, both in China and out of China. The first Hong Qi was actually named a Dongfeng and based off an earlier Soviet design that Moscow had passed onto Mao to ride into town on for his first big day in Beijing [...]
Suzuki Kizashi Spotted….. in China!
The Suzuki Kizashi is Suzuki’s latest mid size sedan concept car, that is due to be put into production later this year for Western markets, but it appears that it may well be in production in the Middle Kingdom early next year: It’s likely that the Suzuki Kizashi will be produced in cooperation with Chang’an [...]
Chinese auto exports down 58%, overtaken by Indian exports
According to a CCTV report earlier this morning, Chinese automotive exports currently stand at 3% of the worlds total, and exports are down 58% this year, making China a big consumer but a small exported. Whilst China certainly does have the potential to become a world player in the automotive parts and full car production, [...]
China to sell 12 million vehicles this year
So says Xinhua: China is expected to manufacture a record 12 million vehicles in 2009, an official with the country’s top economic planning agency said Saturday. Chinese domestic auto makers were expected to produce and sell more than eight million vehicles in the first eight months this year, said Chen Bin, director of the department [...]
What could have been – the MG SUV
MG-Roewe’s parent company, SAIC, are very eager to build their own SUV based on Sssangyong IPR but a launch date of the Ssangyong-Roewe has never been announced despite it being spotted dozens of times out testing. It could be that the rights to Ssangyong IPR is in a murky place right now straight after Ssangyongs [...]
Greatwalls 1.5T sedan to launch next year
Great Wall Motors had their first foray into the hatchback segment two years ago, and have had reasonable success with their mini car range, but their next big thing is their first sedan. Information on their first sedan is not clear, however it is certain that it wont be the CHC011 sedan that we saw [...]
New Buick HRV to be a 1.6T Rocket?
The Buick line up in China is quite frankly fantastic, you have a mixture of cars, everything from mini sedans, to larger sedans and MPV’s and SUV’s, it’s simply brilliant. It almost makes me want to become a Buick owner just looking through the glass at the dealership, cars like the new Regal and the [...]
Unknown sedan spotted in China – CCT readers to the rescue!
The below sedan was recently spotted out testing in China, but nobody knows what exactly it is, thus we need CCT readers help: The photos first appeared on the Chinese auto website, auto.sohu.com and their current guesses are: Dongfeng self developed vehicle based on a Nissan platform (from the Nissan-Dongfeng JV), a Nissan Sentra, or [...]
Ford China Sales Surge 111% in August
Not only GM are doing big business in China, it seems Ford can rake the customers in as well. It’s a real shame that the third member of ‘The Big Three’ cant even get a third of these sales in China. Although when Ford are producing cars like the Fiesta and the Mondeo, its no [...]
SouEast-Lancer to roll off production line this month
The much awaited SouEast-Mitsubishi Lancer is going to be rolling down the production line this month, and will give the mid size compact sedan market a shake up. The Lancer EX will come with a 1.8l and a 2.0l engine with a six speed sports gearbox. The engines will be imported models from the 4B1 [...]
Greatwall taking ‘X240′ to Australia
It seems one of the first Western markets for Chinese cars is going to Australia, with Great Wall heading there and Geely reportedly have their eyes on a factory in New South Wales: In case you’re wondering, the V240 is the current Greatwall Hover. From Motor Report: Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors will release its [...]
Hopes for Golf GTI to be made in China by March 2010
The Chinese automotive press are hoping for the Golf GTI to be put into production via the FAW-VW joint venture in March next year. Currently the Golf GTI is an expensive import into China, but both the three door and five door models are available. FAW-VW will put the sixth generation Golf into production soon, [...]
BYD’s S6 SUV revealed, a Lexus RX by another name
BYD really have a thing for Toyota’s designs, first it was the BYD F3 which was practically a Toyota Corolla, then the Toyota Aygo, and now the BYD S6 which is pretty much a Lexus RX SUV, but with a BYD badge. The exterior is very similar to the Lexus RX350, and the dashboards could [...]
Shanghai-GM sales through the roof in August 2009
Whilst sales might be considered grim in the North American market, GM’s China operations are celebrating double sales in August this year. Shanghai GM posted a sales increase of 112.7% over August 2008 to 152,365 vehicles in August alone. From January to August 2009, Shanghai GM shifted 1.11 million cars from GM garage forecourts, with [...]
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