Archive for October, 2010
Chinese car manufacturers heading for bubble
Almost all Chinese automakers, including joint ventures, are rapidly increasing production capacity, but does China have the long term sales volume to continue building yet more car factories? Some would argue that the bubble is about to burst, but others appear resolute that expansion is going to last forever. From AP: Booming auto sales in [...]
Chery working on Wankel engines for new energy vehicles
According to media reports Chery is planning to work on a series of Wankel engines for its next generation of new energy vehicles. The Wankel engine is based on a rotary system, rather than the up and down motion of pistons, to generate power for the drive shaft and ultimately the driving wheels. The company [...]
B7 Passat to be made in China and will be stretched
Whilst the automotive world is excited over the latest generation of Passat that was launched last week, the Chinese automotive press is even more excited as VW plans to produce the B7 generation in China, and stretch it too. The Passat has been a popular car in China since its first introduction several years ago, [...]
Photoblog: Geely’s GX2, aka the Panda Crossover
Geely’s GX2 is essentially the long awaited crossover version of its popular Geely Panda mini car, whilst the Panda relies on its cuteness to sell, it seems the GX2 will be relying on its trendy design and has had the cuteness factor scaled back in favor of a more rugged SUV style appearance, the spare [...]
Chevrolet Cruze Hathback not coming to China yet….
As mentioned in earlier articles, the Chevrolet Cruze turbo is about to be launched and will continue to boost the popular model in China, but what is not going to be launched is the recently aired Cruze hatchback. The Cruze hatchback got its first airing in Paris several weeks ago, but it seems that the [...]
MG6 sedan spy photos
As reported yesterday on China Car Times, the MG6 sedan is set to launch on Monday at the World Expo’s UK Pavilion, however we have received some spy pictures that show the MG6 sedan’s makeover to seperate it from its donor, the Roewe 550. As China is stilll enthralled in its love affair with the [...]
MG6 sedan to launch on… Monday?!
In news that has taken even China Car Times by surprise, it appears that SAIC are planning to launch the MG6 sedan on Monday at the UK pavilion within the World Expo center. For those that are not aware, the MG6 sedan is essentially the Roewe 550 but with an MG6 style front end, this [...]
Rumour mill: China to raise tax on small displacment engines?
In early 2009 the government lowered sales taxes on sub 1.6L cars in a bid to boost the automotive industry at a time when big lay offs were looking likely, however China rode the economic depression wave like a pro surf boarder and car sales surged in China whilst they fell into a chasm that [...]
Mazda6 gets minor facelift
Although the new Mazda6 has been launched as the Rui Yi, the previous generation Mazda6 has stayed in production to cater for those consumer who just require a larger cheaper car and are not too fussed about aesthetically pleasing aspects of car buying. And lets be honest, it doesn’t look like the last generation Mazda6 [...]
1.6 Turbo Chevrolet Cruze – Sighted at long last
The Chevrolet Cruze has become an exceptionally popular compact sedan in China and is giving other compact sedans, such as the Ford Focus, a run for its money in China. It could be that the Cruze’s adverts which featured Michael Scofield from the hit show Prison Break (which was never actually aired in China, but [...]
Gasoline price to rise at the pumps at the end of the month
Chinese motorists maybe moaning today after the news of another round of gasoline price rises expected later this month. During the oil crisis in 2008, the Chinese government insisted that it would end gasoline subsidies in a bid to keep its oil refineries out of the red and help them get into the black, and [...]
Shanghai VW’s sales are up over 25% in September
Shanghai-VW, the joint venture between Shanghai Auto Industry Corporation and Volkswagen reported that its September sales increased by 25.1% in September 2010 when compared to September 2009. Sales of Shanghai-VW vehicles stood at 93,648 units, and total yearly sales reached 707,682 vehicles, an increase of 34.9% over the same period in 2009. Shanghai-VW currently produces [...]
Daimler recalling over 9000 vans in China
Daimler recently set up a joint venture between Mercedes and Fujian’s SouEast Auto to produce the Viano and Vito MPV models for the Chinese market, however it appears that just shortly after launching their made in China produce the Chinese governments quality watchdog has assisted Daimler in issuing a recall. The recall is due to [...]
Zotye to put ex Fiat Multipla on sale ASAP, prices are low, names changed
It seems there was a minor amount of confusion earlier this year when we posted news of the Fiat Multipla launching under the Zotye name, apparently it had only just come down the production line and at the time had yet to go on sale, however as of yesterday the Mutiplan is officially on sale [...]
Jinbei’s SUV sighted out
Brilliance Holdings own Jinbei and also Brilliance Auto’s, Brilliance have been aiming to build an SUV model for a number of years but it seems that Jinbei have been them to it with their own model. The above SUV is set to be Jinbei’s second SUV to reach the market, with their first being a [...]
Top ten sellers in September, BYD F3 gone from the list
It seems that the BYD F3 has disappeared from the list of top ten vehicles sold in September, this time last year it was one of the best selling vehicles in China but it seems to have lost favor rather quickly with consumers. Buick Excelle – 22,600 vehicles Hyundai Elantra – 22,100 VW Lavida – [...]
BYD’s September sales down 25% year on year
BYD posted a 25 percent year-on-year decrease in the auto sales volume to 33,085 vehicles for September, but the sales volume recorded an increase of six percent month-on-month, reports yicai.com, citing information released by BYD. The sales volumes of the model F3 and model F0 automobiles reached 11,890 and 12,615 vehicles, respectively. In addition, the [...]
Peugeot RCZ spotted in China, heading for sales early next year
Peugeot seem to be ramping up their import offers thanks to a strong RMB and a fairly weak Euro, their imported line up consists of the 207CC, 308CC, 308SW wagon, 407 sedan and 607 sedan, whilst the latter two are possibly rarer than hens teeth in China, the SW wagon series has proved to be [...]
Has GM found a bidder for its Antwerp factory in China
GM’s soon to be shuttered and closed Anterp factory may have found itself an unlikely lifeline from Chinese investors according to an Associated Press report from several days ago. Geely officials have toured the factory and surrounding areas as they are confidently striding out of their traditional Chinese market and looking to overseas markets to [...]
Why China’s auto market is going to get a lot lot bigger (or maybe not)
China’s Traffic Management Bureau, a sub-department of the Ministry of Public Security released astonishing figures several days ago that show China has only 199 million vehicles on the road today. Breaking that down further, it appears that there are 85 million passenger vehicles on the roads, whilst the rest are made up of trucks, buses, [...]
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