Archive for October, 2010
India’s Reva electric car company planning to enter China
The Indian company, Mahindra Reva, are planning to launch their two seater electric car range into the Chinese market to take advantage of the current fanfare around electric cars. Reva’s CEO, Mr. Pawan Goenka, believes that as China is the world’s largest car market then it will be a great market in the future for [...]
Geely’s Volvo returns to operating profit in third quarter
According to a Reuters report, Volvo have returned to an operating profit in the third quarter of 2010, showing that Volvo do actually have the ability to make a profit under Geely’s strewardship. When Geely purchased Volvo, they intended to keep it as an independent business away from Geely’s own car making business, this plan [...]
Roewe 750D – Roewe 750 hybrid sighted out
Roewe first showed off their 750 hybrid concept at the 2006 Beijing Auto Show, but until now we have not seen it again, although new energy Shanghai Auto variants were shown at this years Beijing Auto Show. Although hybrid cars have been around for over a decade, this might be the first time that a [...]
Fudi Explorer SUV launched today
Fudi launched their Explorer SUV earlier this week, and will certainly have an interesting product to show to dealers: The Explorer will be powered by a 2.0L gasoline and a 2.8 diesel engine, pricing starts at 88,000rmb. AshAsh came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected [...]
China’s Automotive Development from start to now
This is the first part of a six part series that will take you on a journey through the six decades of Chinese automotive history in modern China. People think of China’s automotive history as starting in the late 90′s or early 00′s, in fact China has had cars for pretty much the same length [...]
Besturn B90 Sedan spotted out testing
It’s not entirely clear if FAW are planning to continue with the Besturn brand or not, but it seems that they are now planning to continue with the brand expansion and worry about branding later. Initially the Ben Tung brand was known as Besturn in English, but it later fell under the Hong Qi (Red [...]
BAW’s MPV’s spotted out testing
Beijing Auto Work’s own MPV model is certainly gathering speed by the looks of these pictures that clearly show the MPV undergoing group testing on what looks like an athletic track, it is more than likely that the model is getting shown off to higher ups or potential dealers. The above C30 MPV is certainly [...]
Cadillac SLS to get 264BHP 2.0T engine!
The Cadillac SLS is the only Cadillac to be made in China, although it is sold alongside the Escalade SUV and also CTS sedan and SLX SUV offerings. The SLS was introduced into China in 2006 and has had small sales so far, partly due to the lack of advertising of the Cadillac brand and [...]
Chang’an and Ford talking about India
Ford are trailing in China when compared to their American rival, GM. Of course, GM has its multiple brands that it can deploy and mix and match its various design centers cars into, where as Ford is largely relying on its European car line up to spur China sales. Ford’s line up so far consists [...]
Chery’s B16 sedan spotted out
The Oriental Son was Chery’s first big sedan, it had a good run in the years that it was sold and was arguably one of China’s first forays into the mid size sedan segment. Now that the Oriental Son has come to an end, a newer sedan codenamed the B16 is on its way: A [...]
Brilliance to give 400 FSV hybrid cars to Dalian Government
Today at Dalian’s picturesque Xing Hai Square, Brilliance handed over the keys to 400 FSV hybrid sedans to Dalian City Government in an electric car trial that will see the cars handed over to taxi companies for long term testing. Dalian City has been appropriated as a national center for hybrid taxi testing and appears [...]
Great Wall Motors planning world standard research center
As reported several days ago, Great Wall Motors (GWM) are planning to become one of the worlds largest SUV makers and plans to take at least 8% of the world SUV market by the year 2020. GWM have plans to put 5 billion RMB ($750 million USD) into their R&D efforts in order to achieve [...]
Next generation Buick MPV spotted out will launch before end of year
The next generation of Buick GL8 was recently sighted without camo in downtown Shanghai and shows that the GL8 is very close to production. The GL8 was introduced into China in 2001 and quickly became the industry standard for business use MPV’s within China. As it was popular from the start it only gained two [...]
New Roewe 750 to launch in 2012
According to media reports, the new Roewe 750 is expected to launch in 2012 and is currently in the R&D stage. The Roewe 750 is based on the Rover 75 which SAIC bought from MG-Rover in 2005, the original Rover 75 was supposed to be terminated in 2004, but its life was extended to 2012 [...]
China raises price of fuel at the pump
After a week of rumors the Chinese body responsible for monitoring oil prices in China, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) raised gasoline prices by CNY230 and also raised diesel prices by CNY220rmb per metric ton. The end result for consumers is not good, with prices rising by 0.19rmb per liter on certain products: [...]
Renault Latitude coming to China – spied out testing
Renault are still a niche importer of cars into the Chinese market, they have long wanted to becoming a producer of cars once again in China but have hit upon issues in finding a suitable joint venture partner, initially they were rumored to be be paired with Dongfeng but nothing appears to have come of [...]
VW Polo sighted at Shanghai-VW
The VW Polo has been spotted at the Shanghai-VW campus and has sparked another round of imminent launch rumors. The Polo has been a relatively popular car since its introduction and various updates since then, the latest generation of Polo was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show and is expected to be officially launched at [...]
CATARC stats shut down by the police
China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) is a government quango with a wide mandate, according to their own website they are responsible for assisting the government with “auto standardization and technical regulation formulation, product certification testing, quality system certification, industry planning and policy research, information service and common technology research” As part of its [...]
Ford Start Concept to be available in China
The Ford Start concept car was unveiled at this years Beijing Auto Show and is expected to replace the Ford Ka in European markets and will be built using an an aluminum and steel platform and is expected to be very similar to the concept version according to media reports. The car will be powered [...]
GM to export small car produce to other markets
Shanghai-GM are planning to export some of its small car range to overseas markets in the next coming months according to various media reports. GM’s plans to export models such as the Chinese built Chevrolet Sail to developing markets in Latin America and potentially elsewhere to tap into growth in those markets. The first wave [...]
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