Archive for July, 2010
BAW’s 007 SUV to launch in third quarter
You have to hand it to BAIC, they were among the first Chinese automotive companies to figure out that by working with a foreign company they could make better cars in China and sell a lot of them at the same time. Initially BAIC signed up with AMC to produce the Jeep Cherokee in China [...]
New Non Chinese5 emission cars to be banned from Guandong
From September 1st 2010, new cars that do not meet the Chinese5 Emission standard will not be allowed to be registered within Guangdong province in a bid to clean up the air in the World’s Factory. The ban is mostly in place in the Pearl Delta Region (珠江三角洲) which covers a series of cities in [...]
Geely gets the keys to Volvo on August 2nd
According to Western and Chinese media reports, Geely will finally pick up the keys to their Volvo purchase on August 2nd 2010 which is less than a week away. Geely bought Volvo from Ford for 1.8 billion RMB earlier this year, but it seemed that Geely were planning to buy Volvo as early as April [...]
Fiat 500 to be imported into China at the end of the year?!
According to various media reports both in English and Chinese, it appears that Fiat maybe readying to import the Fiat 500 into China at the end of the year and may plan to take on MINI in the small premium hatch segment. The redesigned Fiat 500 has already taken Europe by storm and is sure [...]
The Yez from SAIC
Bloomberg’s Gadget week has a fantastic article on the The Yez concept car, which has been on CCT before but under its Chinese name of The Leaf, obviously it cannot share its Chinese/English name due to a conflict with Nissan’s own upcoming Leaf electric hatchback. It’s a six page read, which is probably reviewing old [...]
Stretched Suzuki WagonR to launch in China in 2011
The WagonR is set to get stretched for the Chinese market in 2011, it appears that Changhe Suzuki have decided that the fun little box is no longer long enough to cope with consumers and plans to stretch its wheelbase to allow more rear leg room and also plan to offer larger engines including a [...]
Bao Jun’s first car spotted out testing
Bao Jun is the product of a three way tie up between SAIC, GM, and Wuling all of whom have conspired to make a new brand to take into the rural and suburban areas where the need for cheap automobiles is quite high. Bao Jun will be controlled by Wuling and with a lot of [...]
Hyundai to open third factory this year – hybrids to launch in 2012
In recent years, the Beijing-Hyundai joint venture has grown several fold in terms of sales, just 24 months ago the Hyundai line up for China looked rather unloved and out of place but thanks to the introduction of new models such as the best selling Elantra and selling multi generational models side by side Hyundai [...]
Santana zero top – perfect for those Zhejiang summers!
Always wanted to have a cheap soft top car to enjoy the summers? Well here is the answer! No need to spend hundreds of thousands of RMB on a rag top Lexus, Volvo or Merc, people will only think you’re a corrupt official (if you’re older) or a spoiled rich kid (if you’re young) or [...]
Mitsubishi planning on making a small car in China
Both English and Chinese language media reports from earlier today are excitedly reporting that Mitsubishi are planning to build a small car for the Chinese market, what they don’t seem to realise is that Mitsubishi have been planning on building the Mitsubishi Colt in China for the past two years. The joint venture between SouEast [...]
FAW-Toyota planning major price cuts to woo buyers
FAW–Toyota’s “recall-gate” was a bad time for the company, with sales being down and their goal to produce 500,000 cars in 2010 looking a long way off , FAW-Toyota are planning to make some drastic price cuts across the range. The Toyota Corolla EX has already recieved a generous price cut of 15,000rmb and has [...]
Suzuki Splash to launch at the end of the year
The Suzuki Splash is set to launch at the end of the year according to media reports and will be the eighth small car from Chang’an Suzuki in the Chinese marketplace. Since Chang’an Motors took over the Changhe and Hafei auto companies from AVIC group, Chang’an was able to solidify its Suzuki joint venture and [...]
SAIC and VW signing up with Suzuki to take on the Chinese market
From China Knowledge: Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan’s second-largest mini-car maker, is teaming up with SAIC Motor Corp Ltd and Volkswagen AG, to establish a three-way joint venture in China, sources reported. Reportedly, the structure of new JV may be similar with the existing three-way JV set by Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co, where Chongqing Changan [...]
MG3 sighted again, in building process
Pictures of the MG3 have been leaked to the internet yet again and show the MG3 in a state of undress at the factory: The MG3 is expected to go on the market in September this year, and will be sold alongside the MG3 SW in the Chinese market but will likely be sold in [...]
Chery knows nothing regarding GM espionage issues
Many media reports are indicating that the stolen IPR from GM that was taken by a Michigan couple (sometimes reported as a Detroit couple) was heading to Chery, however Chery have come out and said they do not understand why their name is being linked to the story as they do not have anything to [...]
Chery Riich G3: 1.3T + CVT = bargain box of tech
Chery are serious about their Riich brand, despite its less than enthusiastic name it will be getting some lessons from forced induction when it gets a turbo bolted onto it. Naysayers that said the Riich brand was pretty much a do-do might have egg on their face when they realise that the Riich brand is [...]
Five players fighting for the Subaru JV
As previously reported on CCT, Subaru are planning to enter into China as a local producer in a yet as of unnamed local suitor, in previous CCT articles we mentioned JMC, FAW, and BAIC, but it according to today’s media reports more suitors are entering the fray. Earlier today it emerged that SAIC, the JV [...]
BYD i6 to launch in October 2010
BYD may have recently launched their MPV, but their heart lies in sedan manufacturing as they made their first big win with the unstoppable BYD F3 sedan. The i6 is BYD’s furthering of their plans to produce more upmarket vehicles, another model, the BYD L3, which is a more upmarket version of the BYD F3 [...]
GM’s Bao Jun brand to launch in May 2011
A three way tie up between Wuling, GM, and SAIC recently announced that they would be launching a new economy brand in the Chinese market to satisfy demand in rural and suburban areas where the demand for entry level vehicles remains strong compared to inner city buyers who are feeling the strain. The Bao Jun [...]
2011 Chevrolet Captiva spotted
The Chevrolet Captiva has been a good seller for Chevrolet over the past few years, originally a Daewoo Winstar vehicle that was re-branded a Chevrolet, or a Holden depending on the local market. A 2011-2012 version of the Chevrolet Captiva has been been leaked onto the internet and it seems that the Captiva is going [...]
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