Archive for March, 2011
Chinese cars rotting in Rotterdam
What happens to cars that were Made in China then sold to a European distributor, only for the EU distributor to be banned from selling them? They sit in Rotterdam Port rotting. Shuang Huan Auto planned to sell the SCEO SUV in Germany but a German judge put the slap down on any such plans [...]
Seat confirmed for China will be on show at the Shanghai Auto Show
The Seat brand will be officially imported into China later this year according to information we received earlier today. The Seat brand is not doing terribly well in the European market and maybe eventually culled, by launching it in China VAG maybe giving the brand its final shot at making sales. The Seat invasion will [...]
Dongfeng-Nissan’s output to fall in April due to Japanese earthquake
From Reuters: Nissan Motor Co expects April output at its China unit to fall about 10 percent below target, hit by supply chain disruptions after the disaster in eastern Japan, the Nikkei business daily reported. Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co, a division of the Japanese automaker’s joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group , will slash [...]
Hyundai also planning own sub brand
GM, Honda, Nissan…. the list of companies starting their own sub brand for the Chinese auto market is growing longer and longer, Hyundai are about to pin their own name to that list with the launch of a new sub brand. The Chairman of Beijing Auto, Mr. Xu He Yi, a partner to Hyundai in [...]
Toyota rumored in talks on selling Prius III hybrid technology to China’s FAW
A source close to Toyota Motors reveals that Toyota has sold the technology of the third-generation Prius to China’s auto giant FAW Group, but the two companies would not expose the deal to the public now and say they are in talks about local production. It could be a new explanation to the delayed local [...]
SAIC’s former Chief Designer Ma Zheng Kun on life at Chang’an and Chinese design
SAIC’s chief designer, Mr. Ma Zheng Kun, has jumped the SAIC ship and has moved to arch rival Chang’an Auto in a surprise move. Mr. Ma was the chief designer at SAIC and oversaw the development of SAIC’s own cars such as the Roewe 350, Roewe N1 concept, MG Zero Concept, and the MG5 concept. [...]
Brilliance reveals official A3 SUV pictures
Brilliance have finally revealed the official A3 SUV renderings ahead of the A3′s launch at the Shanghai Auto Show. The SUV itself highly resembles the BMW X1, who of course are Brilliance’s partner. It’s not entirely clear as to what level of cooperation the two companies have, or if BMW are working with Brilliance on [...]
Chang’an Voss MPV concept to be displayed in Shanghai
As Chang’an Auto recently hired the former SAIC designer over to their team, it seems that their level of designs are about to increase at a rapid rate. One of their new concepts for the Shanghai Auto Show will be the Voss MPV concept, a six seater MPV with a great gull wing door to [...]
BYD S6 to launch at Shanghai Auto Show
The BYD S6 SUV was first on show at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2010, but now it is going to see its official launch at the Shanghai Auto Show next month. The S6 will be BYD’s first SUV and is part of the company’s plan to push the brand into new segments, their [...]
Gas prices expected to rise considerably in April
With turmoil still spreading in oil rich countries, the price of gas at forecourts across the world is reaching new highs. Chinese consumers started to feel the pinch when prices broke through the psychologically important 7rmb barrier several weeks ago, but now it seems that Chinese drivers are preparing for prices to rise upto 7.5rmb [...]
Beijing Auto to announce small car brand later this month
Beijing Auto are pulling back from their position as a stale producer of 45 year old jeeps and are planning to reintroduce the brand with a boom. Saab based vehicles are expected to illuminate the brand at the end of the year when the cars will finally roll down the production line, but long before [...]
Zhongxing F1 to launch soon
Zhongxing is not a brand we report on too often at China Car Times, probably because they are not a very PR orientated company and news from them is very slim on the ground indeed, although it has come to our attention that Zhongxing are readying a new sports pick up truck. The aptly named [...]
No more rush hour driving
Chinese consumers bought just over 18 million cars last year, and the market is expected to grow by 15-20% in 2011. So its great news for the automotive industry, but a complete headache for the traffic management department at City Hall’s across China, after all they have spent the last 60 years reading newspapers at [...]
MG6 getting strong reviews in the UK
MG may have Chinese owners (until the next time it changes hands) but its 300 strong British engineering team in the UK are really putting the work into making the MG brand sustainable again with a series of top class products. Earlier today we saw the official launch of the MG3 in Beijing, but the [...]
MG3 pricing out of the bag
The MG3 advertising campaign is well under way in China, with bill board posters popping up on bus stops and also in magazines ahead of the cars launch later tonight. SAIC have also been pushing the MG3 heavily with a PR campaign to take up as much magazine pages as possible in the past few [...]
Brilliance ‘X1′ SUV caught outside again
Like the BMW X1? Cant afford it? No problem, BMW’s Chinese partner Brilliance have produced their own look-a-like for 2011. The two companies are quite comfortable with each other and it is not the first time that Brilliance have borrowed some of BMW’s styling for their own range of cars. The Brilliance SUV is to [...]
VAG’s plans for China Audi exposed
China is the largest vehicle market in the world, it has surpassed America at its peak of automobile consumption and looks set to continue its love affair with the automobile into 2011 and beyond, an estimated 19-20 million cars will be sold in China in 2011 and it comes as no surprise to learn that [...]
Next generation Nissan Tiida sighted ahead of Shanghai Auto Show
The Nissan Tiida has been a major hit for Dongfeng-Nissan in the past two years, the smart little hatchback was a firm favorite with young buyers who wanted to buy something other than the slightly stale Ford Focus. Tiida sales have been dropping as the competition against the hatchback and sedan series has been hotting [...]
SAIC to produce 4 million cars in 2011
From Reuters: SAIC Motor Corp Ltd , China’s biggest automaker, expects its 2011 vehicle sales to rise by about 12 percent from 2010 as the Chinese auto industry is expected to grow at a markedly slower pace this year after years of explosive growth. But Shanghai-based SAIC, the Chinese partner of General Motors and Volkswagen [...]
BMW X3 to be possibly produced in China
The BMW X3 maybe produced in China according to Chinese media reports, the production rumors were also later confirmed by China Car Times industry contacts late yesterday afternoon. The X1 was the first BMW SUV to go into production in China with spy pictures revealing its Hua Chen Bao Ma logo to at the rear [...]
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