Archive for May, 2011
Besturn SUV spotted out, has Chinese media excited
Besturn’s first SUV has been spotted out testing and has the Chinese automotive media talking in a big way, the SUV appears to be based fairly closely to the X-Concept SUV that FAW introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show last month and shows that FAW are eager to keep up with emerging trends in the [...]
BAIC’s C60 all electric Saab based sedan spotted out testing
Beijing Auto Industry Corporation (BAIC) are eager to get their electric sedan into the market, they have come late to the part with their self developed cars and their own home market has been put on lock down with only 20,000 new car sales happening each month. However, the Beijing municipal government are planning to [...]
Facelift Chery QQ coming with Crossover version
The Chery QQ has fought a long hard battle since its first introduction into the Chinese market way back in 2003, it was difficult for Chinese consumers to warm to small cars in the early days as they were deemed unsafe (and they weren’t wrong) but the QQ won everybody over with its cute looks [...]
MG5 to be priced from 90,000rmb to 130,000rmb when launched
MG5 Concept The MG3 has already hit the market and is priced very competitively when compared with its peers in the mini car segment, it undercuts the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, and Honda Fit – all popular small cars but keeps up with them in terms of styling and quality. The MG5 is aiming to [...]
Great Wall’s recalled in Australia
Greatwall Motors are recalling the X240 SUV (aka, the Hover) in the Australian market due to an issue with the steering column rubbing on a hydraulic cable, causing it to split over time. Great Wall Motors are working with Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission to recall 922 2010 models of the SUV. The models affected [...]
Lotus coming to China (again)
Lotus are already in China, but they are coming to China again. Confused? Youngman Auto set up a partnership with Malaysia’s Proton to build Proton vehicles in China, these vehicles were initially branded as Europestar vehicles but the brand was quietly dumped in favour of the Lotus brand. Lotus was translated into Chinese and became [...]
BYD suspends minivan project due to lack of capital
BYD have suspended production of their minivan range before it has even begun according to media reports which cite a lack of investment as a major reason. In August 2008 BYD bought Changsha based Midea bus company with a plan to make electric buses and invest 3 billion RMB into the factory. In the last [...]
Cadillac CTS-V spotted with rhinestone jacket
Remember rhinestones? Did you enjoy disco? Then you’re going to love the below CTS-V which was detailed with its disco-garb at the Qingdao Auto Show last week. Not sure about the angel connection, or does God drive one of these himself? AshAsh came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some [...]
Chery to Burma/Myanmar with a new factory
From Xinhua: Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. is planning to set up a car assembly plant in Myanmar, the company said Friday. The plant will be capable of rolling out 3,000 to 5,000 Chery’s QQ3 compact cars annually, said Jin Yibo, a spokesman with Chery Auto. The company has so far received nearly 10,000 orders for [...]
Saab expects ok from Swedish Govt for Pangda deal soon
From WSJ: Swedish car maker Saab Automobile said Friday it expects the Swedish National Debt Office and the minister of enterprise to approve its proposed funding deal with Chinese car distributor Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. Ltd 601258.SH) within a month, after holding a meeting with the Swedish authorities yesterday.Last week Saab’s owner Spyker Cars [...]
Peugeot RCZ to launch in September
The Peugeot RCZ is set to hit the Chinese market in September this year according to media reports which also indicate the RCZ will be priced at 400,000rmb – 43,000 Euros. If the RCZ does launch in China at that price consumers may look elsewhere to get their sports car fix, the RCZ has a [...]
Fiat 500′s spotted in China, to launch in September
The Fiat 500 was a central piece of Fiat’s plans for the China market, at the Shanghai Auto Show the 500 was on center stage during the media days, although we were told that Fiat switched the cars out to other models for the public days later on. The 500 has been sighted in China [...]
Maxxus vans to be produced in June, already receiving overseas orders
Although Maxxus has only just been revealed at last months Shanghai Auto Show the new van brand has already got Chinese and overseas orders in the book according to SAIC. In the brief time that it has hit the market, SAIC has worked to set up an international network that consists of an impressive 16 [...]
Geely’s Global Eagle GC3 – Cheap, Cheerful, but not pretty
Geely are having a branding crisis, the Global Eagle brand seems to be lagging far behind the more powerful Emgrand and Englon brands. The Global Eagle line up only has two cars, the Panda and the Panda Crossover, but they are about to receive a new house guest in the form of the GC3. The [...]
China’s car sales may decline 10% this year
The boom years of 2008-2010 maybe reminised upon as the golden years of the Chinese auto market if Bloomberg’s prediction comes true, but the facts remain that April auto sales were the poorest for 27 months and May is not looking much better by early indications. From Bloomberg: China’s auto sales may fall 10 percent [...]
Booth babes should be on the look out for ‘yellow T-shirt man’
Yellow T-shirt man has become a popular person on the Chinese blogosphere this week due to his brazen attempt at taking a picture of a car models cleavage at the Wuhan Auto Show last week. The yellow T-shirt has only added to his fame in China, yellow is largely seen as a color set aside [...]
Chevrolet Malibu spotted testing in China again
The Malibu was on show at the Shanghai Auto Show last month but SAIC-GM have been wasting no time in getting the car ready for the Chinese market, the car was actually sighted in early 2011 well before the Shanghai Auto Show which lead to rumors of the car being introduced into China in the [...]
Hafei to make its mini vans mild hybrids
Which company would you say is the biggest hybrid producer in China? The smart money would be on BYD, but it seems that Hafei is about to become the biggest hybrid maker in a few weeks time. By using mild hybrid technology, which is essentially a larger than normal alternator and larger battery, together the [...]
China to intoduce Chinese 4 emission standards across China from July 1st
Chinese5 emission standards are about to become the standard for all cars sold across China from July 1st according to media reports. The Chinese 4 emission standard is on par with Euro4 and this is the fourth time that the Chinese authorities have pushed forward with such a plan. Greenhouse emissions and improving the environment [...]
Audi A6 spied out testing, has Chinese media in a frenzy
There are two things that can excite the Chinese automotive media: the Audi A4L and the Audi A6L. The Audi brand is traditionally the weakest of the German three, but owing to Audi’s early entry into the Chinese market Audi were able to gain a massive market share way ahead of their German rivals, and [...]
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