Archive for January, 2010
Shock news: Automakers make good money in China
From Trading Markets: Amid the financial crisis, automobile multinationals encountered setbacks in Europe and US with no exception. No one expected that the burgeoning Chinese region had become their most lucrative market. Volkswagen discloses that it sold 1.4 million vehicles in China in 2009, leaping 36.7% from a year earlier. The sales of Volkswagen-branded cars [...]
Daihatsu quits China!
Daihatsu was was one of the early players in China, and soon set up shop with local players to produce the iconic kei van, which became the mian bao che in China, then they set about building Charades in partnership with Tianjin Xiali, many of which still ride the streets of Tianjin en masse every [...]
Geely’s 2010 Plans
Geely has some stellar plans for 2010, besides taking over Volvo and bringing themselves into the international arena, they also have plans for domestic development of their three core brands. In early 2009, Geely split themselves into three brands, one for China (Emgrand), one for international markets (Eagle), and one for their taxi line up [...]
Can Geely sell a made in China Volvo?
Reuters had this interesting article on their website over the weekend: HONG KONG (Reuters) – Now that Geely Automotive has won the bidding for Sweden’s Volvo car unit, China’s No. 1 private auto maker is making plans to set up a local production base, according to sources familiar with the company. An even bigger challenge [...]
Smaller than an F0: A new contender for worlds cheapest car
On the global stage, Anchi is pretty much unknown except to a few Chinese car affectionardos and people in the trade. Anchi are mostly known for their basic SUV’s and pick up trucks that are sold largely in third tier cities and the countryside. Anchi are now on the verge of producing an ultra mini [...]
Honda Crosstour coming to China?
According to recent media reports, the Honda Crosstour crossover maybe coming to China via the Dongfeng-Honda or Guangzhou-Honda joint venture Media reports seem to indicate that the Crosstour is currently undergoing localization, which will most likely see it produced by Guangzhou-Honda as the Crosstour shares 60% of its parts with the Guangzhou-Honda produced Accord. Honda [...]
Best Selling Companies in 2009
Earlier this week the car sales statistics for 2009 finally came out, CCT has yet to analyse them in great detail, but it looks like the usual suspects are at the top of the list, however there are some interesting participants further down the list: Company / Cars sold 1 SAIC 2,425,546 2 FAW 1,758,801 [...]
GM sells 1826424 cars in China in ’09
2009 was a bumper year for the Chinese car industry, and it looks like GM came out well with 1826424 cars sold which translates into a 66.9% rise in sales for the Shanghai based company. GM’s sales are split into two, the Shanghai-GM joint venture was responsible for sales of 727631 cars (an increase of [...]
VW Golf GTI to launch in March, priced at 220,000rmb
The Chinese produced Golf GTI is set to launch in March this year and will be priced at 220,000rmb and rising according to this mornings media reports. The Golf GTI is VW’s attempt to crack open a niche hot hatch market that has yet to materialize in the Peoples Republic. The GTI will be produced [...]
SAIC denies Hummer joint purchase
According to the Shanghai Daily, SAIC have reportedly denied an overture from Sichuan Tengzhong to jointly take on the Hummer purchase from SAIC’s partner, GM. The Hummer purchase is currently up in the air with Tengzhong not yet getting approval from the Ministry of Commerce for investing over 100 million RMB into an overseas company. [...]
Chinese built VW CC spotted out testing
The Passat CC is to be known as just the ‘CC’ in China due to the issue of both FAW and Shanghai Auto both producing various variants of the Passat, previously it was thought that it would be called the Magotan CC in line with the current FAW produced Magotan. The CC is currently imported [...]
Shanghai VW to launch facelift (and stretched) Tiguan in first quarter
Shanghai VW are likely to have another hit on their hands in the coming months as they launch the locally built VW Tiguan SUV in TSI form. There was previously a rumor of VW launching a 1.4TSI in 2 wheel drive form, but latest information seems to be that the Tiguan will launch in: 1.8TSI [...]
MG-Roewe full year sales expected to be 90,000
Obviously at the moment Roewe is the stronger selling brand due to its newer line up with the big seller being the Roewe 550, the biggest seller for MG appears to the MG3SW, but that is likely to change once the MG6 hits the dealerships. From Xinhua: BEIJING, Jan. 4 – SAIC Motor Co Ltd sold [...]
Chinese drivers finish first stage of Dakar rally
This is not the first time that Chinese drivers have taken part in the Dakar rally, it is however the first time that Chinese car companies have entered into the race across South America. This year both Chery and Greatwall have entered the SUV race segment. From the Global Times: All the Chinese drivers successfully [...]
Cold weather in Northern China making life difficult for most
Those CCT readers that are blessed by living close to the equator will be shocked to hear that the northern hemisphere is exceedingly cold this year with lots of snow in the USA, northern Europe and most of all China. The mercury has dropped to -35 degrees centigrade in parts of North Eastern China, Beijing [...]
Another sedan from BYD: The G6
BYD’s love of sedans is hardly a secret, although they do have an SUV and MPV in the pipeline, it seems that their bread and butter is sedans. The latest sedan is this rendered BYD G6 (left) which is apparently going to be bigger than the current BYD F6. From what we understand, BYD’s G-series [...]
It must be love, love, love: Ben Ben Love
Chang’an are launching their Ben Ben love model in Chongqing this week before it goes on national sale all over China. The first four models are manual, and the top of the line is automatic. Prices appear to be very cheap for what you’re getting: Basic Manual – 38,000rmb Standard Manual – 41,900rmb Fashion Manual [...]
Hello 2010!
2010 is CCT’s third year online, and probably going to be the best one yet, we hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays and the plentiful amounts of snow that fell on Northern China during the past two weeks. January 1st to the 3rd was a national holiday in China, did any CCT readers undertake any [...]
MG X-Power boss arrested
Will Riley, a business man and petrol head decided he would make his own MG’s complete with the MG logo and branding seperately from Nanjing MG has apparently been arrested: Will Riley boasted less than two years ago how he had a raft of orders for powerful MG X Power coupés after acquiring the rights [...]
New Buick Excelle sedan spotted out
Buicks new Excelle hatchback was launched late 2009 at the Guangzhou Auto Show, and will hit the dealerships very soon. Shanghai GM are also working on an saloon version which will launch sometime in the middle of 2010. This car has already been spotted testing in the USA, but this is thought to be the [...]
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