Archive for April, 2011
Chevrolet Malibu revealed ahead of time
One of the big international car launches this year at the Shanghai Auto Show is the Chevrolet Malibu, the Malibu was GM’s economy fleet car but now it looks like the Malibu, or the Mai Rui Bo as it will be known in China is ready for the prime time. The Malibu rides on top [...]
This is the Besturn B90
Okay, between me and you, the Besturn range of cars are a bit boring, further more its quite obvious that Ital Design sold the same drawings to Dongfeng Auto for their S30 models. So what’s a car company to do? Well if you have Mazda as your partner the most obvious solution would be to [...]
Geely to start selling Panda online! Great Idea?! This is what it looks like
One of the big problems for Chinese consumers when shopping online is that they like to touch and feel a product before they buy it, going off pictures alone is just too difficult, couple that with an archaic postal service that insist on touching everything you post in a pre-postage inspection, its no wonder that [...]
Kumho to recall 75,000 cars in China
From People’s Daily: China’s top quality watchdog said on Monday that three Chinese car manufacturers will recall approximately 75,000 cars due to their faulty Kumho tires beginning April 15. The tires to be recalled contain excessive amounts of recycled materials which might affect the way the tires function, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, [...]
BYD and Daimler to annouce first car within the year
BYD and Daimler set to work late last year on a new joint venture that will see the two companies working together in a 50:50 partnership on a new range of electric vehicles. Both companies have brought their best ideas to the table with Mercedes bringing design and engineering ability whilst BYD has brought its [...]
BAIC’s C60F concept sedan, aka the old Saab, to hit production in May 2012
When BAIC took command of the Saab 9-3 platforms in early 2010 it was expected that they would put the cars into production straight away – not so – the plans have been delayed slightly whilst Beijing works on the brand building. According to one CCT insider the Beijing brand has to be ‘just right’ [...]
Volkswagen first quarter sales up 19%
From Reuters: Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it sold 548,400 cars in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau in the first quarter, up 19.9 percent from a year earlier, more than doubling the overall growth rate of China’s car market. A total of 429,517 Volkwagen cars were delivered in the three-month period, up 18.4 percent, [...]
Geely’s Englong SC7-RV – Tomorrow’s taxi today
So you thought the modular hybrid-motorbike-car from Geely was a little crazy? The Englong SC7-RV is a little bit mature and perhaps even slightly more palatable than its other fellow concept but the design is still way out there. Geely owns a good slice of British company, Manganese Bronze, that produce the London black cab [...]
Zotye brining mini car to Shanghai Auto Show Party
Zotye are one of China’s leading SUV manufacturers, they tried to move onto producing other models such as the Fiat Multiplan under their own Zotye brand and also the Fiat Palio sedan and hatch models, but they are best remembered as the manufacturer of the funny little SUV. Zotye are actually planning five new cars [...]
Geely to show oddball modular concept car in Shanghai Auto Show
You know, several years ago I thought the age of crazy Chinese concepts cars was practically over, but Geely has to come back to prove us all wrong. Behold: the Moka! The Moka is Geely’s attempt at showing what we might be driving in the future, a modular hybrid car that allows motorists to connect [...]
Jeep Patriot spotted ahead of launch
Jeep used to be the only brand for off roading in China, especially as they were technically the first car company to produce cars in China with the Cherokee model, although it was considered an SUV and VW took first prize as the first car produced in China. Jeep are lining up the Patriot and [...]
Peugeot SXC concept revealead ahead of time
One of PSA’s big models at this years Shanghai Auto Show is their Chinese designed crossover concept, this concept is the first time that PSA’s Shanghai based design team had taken on such a task and won’t be the last if they continue making products that look like this. The concept is called the SXC, [...]
Chery gets 43 billion RMB in funding, to adjust high end brands
Chery inked a strategic partnership agreement with China Development Bank (CDB) on April 11. According to the agreement, CDB will provide financial support of about 43 billion yuan to Chery in 2011 to 2015. It will help Chery cope with the increasing financial stress from R&D demands, necessity of making breakthrough in high-end market and [...]
Zotye Lang Yue Electric Car Commits Self Immolation in Hangzhou
Being a taxi is a hard knock life, you run up millions of clicks on the odometer and you are never really loved by driver or the millions of passengers that frequent the back seats, it comes as no surprise that this Zotye Lang Lang had seen the writing on the wall and burst into [...]
The Wednesday Question: How many of you would drive a Chinese hybrid?
Following on from last Friday’s question, I thought it would be a good idea to have a Wednesday question as well. Beijing has already announced its plans to become a world leading electric car city both in terms of production and consumption, other Chinese cities are rolling out big subsidies for pure electric and hybrid [...]
MG5 spotted out testing again
The MG5 concept will get its official airing at the Shanghai Auto Show next week but SAIC have been terrible at hiding their new cars from the prying eyes of cellphone cameras, plus the fact that the empty octagonal logo impress in the cars front grill gives the fact away that an MG is out [...]
Audi Q3 released ahead of Shanghai Auto Show
China is Audi’s biggest market in terms of sales, especially as they cleared sales of over 220,000 vehicles in 2010 based on a line up of three locally made cars (Q5, A4L, A6) and 5 imports (A3, A5, A8, Q7, TT). The Q3 will be having its premier in Shanghai rather than New York or [...]
Rolls Royce prepping MINI based Roller for Shanghai Auto Show
Aston Martin are preparing their Cygnet for a Chinese launch later this year, rumor has it that the Cygnet will be priced from 200,000rmb to 300,000rmb when launched in China making it a highly affordable Aston Martin indeed, but Rolls Royce have come back with their own mini car based on BMW’s MINI. On the [...]
Stop start stop start: Geely Emgrand EC7 GSG mild hybrid to launch soon
The price gas in China is practically on par with a liter of locally made wine, Chinese drivers are looking to various widgets to install in their cars to lower gas prices or even moving to lower grade gasoline if they can find it in the city limits. Hybrids are something that never took off [...]
This is the Magotan, aka Passat B7L
China is a confusing place for VW Lovers, with multiple generations of products on offer its a tangled market, but I think even China Car Times is coming to understand the situation. SAIC-VW will introduce the New Passat at the Shanghai Auto Show which is the New Mid Size Sedan (NMS) and was built only [...]
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