Archive for July, 2010
Chery A3CC to finally launch at the years end, and perhaps with Riich brand instead
The Chery A3CC has been in development for a long time, mostly due to its solid roof that folds away to turn itself into an open roofed cabriolet for those fun days down by the beach, or racing through the smog filled 40 degree streets of Beijing. According to Chery, the biggest barrier in the [...]
VW to import R-Line series to China
According to Chinese automotive media reports late yesterday VW are set to import the R-line series of performance models into China and will go up against BMW’s M series, Audi’s Quattro system and Mercedes AMG line up, all of which have so far been imported into China so far. The R-Line series has already been [...]
MG3 to launch in September this year
SAIC’s Roewe 350 and MG6 have just recently rolled off the production line and have claimed automotive headlines for the past few weeks, but SAIC are not set at falling back into the small print and plan to roll out the MG3 in September this year. The MG3 (pictured left) was first shown as the [...]
C-NCAP Smash up more cars in the name of safety!
C-NCAP, the Chinese body responsible for testing the safety of cars in China has yet again smashed up another round of cars in the name of improving safety in the Middle Kingdom. This round is the second batch of cars to meet their maker in the smasher this year From its establishment several years ago [...]
EU gives okay nod to Geely to takeover Volvo
From Assosciated Press: European Union regulators on Tuesday approved Chinese carmaker Geely to buy Sweden’s iconic Volvo Cars. The European Commission said it sees no antitrust problems with Zhejiang Geely Holding Co.’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co. because the takeover won’t give either company the power to damage rivals. Geely [...]
No laughing – This is the Lotus L5
Proton entered China in a CKD re-branding exercise that saw certain Proton models sold in the Chinese market via a tie up with the bus maker Youngman which ultimately produced the Europestar brand. Initially vehicles, such as the Gen2 Racer model were sold in China as imports which were sent from Malaysia in kit form [...]
FAW’s Xenia MPV spotted out testing
FAW are putting, or rather forcing, a new lease of life into the Xenia MPV which they first brought into China with their former joint venture partner Daihatsu. Daihatsu recently unexpectedly quit the Chinese market and left its IPR to FAW who have since continued to make the Xenia MPV but under their own brand [...]
Aiming for Government procurement lists? Riich G6 1.8T spotted out testing
The Chinese government are big fans of turbo powered sedans, and why not? They are great for wafting from meeting to meeting to visiting the People and visiting orphanages and model work units alike, as long as there is enough leg room in the back, the price is right, and it comes in black the [...]
Spyker planning to launch Chinese edition GT2 in October
According to media reports earlier this morning, Spyker, the Dutch maker of super cars are planning to launch a road going version of the GT2 sports car specifically for the Chinese market later this year. Spyker’s plans for the Chinese edition GT2 appear to be working on making the car longer, wider, and more importantly, [...]
GM’s China sales outstrip US sales
From The Detroit Free Press: General Motors’ sales in China for the first half of the year surpassed those in the U.S. for the first time as the world’s fastest-growing major economy propelled global auto demand. Sales in China by GM and its joint ventures totaled 1.21 million vehicles in the six months ended June [...]
Chinese workers starting to understand the power of striking – who is next?
Strikes have hit several major Japanese automakers in the past few weeks as workers begin to understand that they do wield great power over the Chinese car industry and begin to understand the knock on effects that occur every time that a strike happens and takes down production for several days, if not weeks at [...]
BAIC JMC and FAW all fighting for the Subaru JV deal
Subaru have been importing into China for several years since the decline of their doomed joint venture with the now long dead and buried Guizhou Avation’s automotive department that produced the Subaru Justy in 800cc form, now that Subaru have seen a major sales spike in China and with their sales bound to hit 100,000 [...]
71 cars entitled to green subsidy
Earlier this year the central government announced a range of subsidies for green cars, including subsidies for less polluting cars that were upto Euro5 specification and had low carbon emissions. As of today the government announced a list of 71 cars from 16 different manufacturers that qualify for the subsidy of upto 3000rmb. Whilst the [...]
Toyota Yaris getting minor face lift and major power boost
A facelift Toyota Yaris is getting ready to launch in China, and it will be bringing with it a mighty little engine. The Yaris is in production with Guangzhou-Toyota and has so far failed to make a major hit on the Chinese market, its nearest rivals the Honda Fit and the Ford Fiesta appear to [...]
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