Archive for May, 2011
Peugeot 308 Sedan Spied in China
Peugeot are starting to love the Chinese market once again, they have launched the 408 and 508 sedans in the past few months and are clearly gearing up for yet another sedan launch, this time time the new 308 sedan. Currently Peugeot offers the 207, 307, 408 and now 508 models in China, but over [...]
Beijing raises parking prices, accidently raises no illegal parkers at the same time
The Beijing Municipal Government loved for its citizens to buy cars in the past few years, the automotive industry keeps thousands of Beijing’ers in jobs in smokey factories on the city outskirts, but by late 2010 it was obvious that City Hall couldn’t keep up with the number of new cars that were hitting the [...]
Are you a journalist? Did you attend the Shanghai Auto Show? We need your help.
Are you an automotive journalist? Did you attend the Shanghai Auto Show? We really want to hear what you thought of the show from a journalists prospective. We’ve made a little survey that can be found here, it would be great if you could let us know what you thought about the show from getting [...]
Chery E5 to be priced from 70,000rmb
The recently announced Chery E5 is expected to be launched very soon and with a price tag of 70,000rmb and rising. An official launch time has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be in the third quarter when the Chinese car market picks up, the summer months usually see a drop in [...]
Peugeot RCZ seen in China, again.
Peugeot are aiming to up their game in the Chinese market, with the recent launch of the stunning 508 sedan Peugeot are likely to follow up with the launch of the RCZ coupe in China sometime soon. The aggressive looking two seater will likely be launched in China in the coming months to take advantage [...]
‘No Rice for the Pot’ – Honda stops production in Hainan
Honda’s Nanhai Parts Production facility has temporarily stopped production due to a lack of parts after the devastating earthquake in Japan last month. The factory has allowed its workers to take an extra long May holiday this year, with the factory closing from April 30th to May 15th due to a lack of materials coming [...]
Chevrolet Epica gets minor updates for 2011
Now that the recently launched Chevrolet Malibu is going to take over the Epica’s place in the Chevrolet line up, the Epica is heading for the automotive dustbin (or possibly to Baojun) but not quite so fast as the Epica is being slightly updated for 2011/2. The Epica has been given a new communications system [...]
Both Shanghai GM and Shanghai Volkswagen will launch new energy vehicles under joint brands
Both Shanghai GM and Shanghai Volkswagen, SAIC’s joint ventures with GM and Volkswagen respectively, have plans to develop joint brands for new energy vehicles, revealed Chen Hong, president of SAIC Motor. SAIC aims to sell more than 6 million vehicles by 2015, with around 50% of the total sales are expected to be vehicles under [...]
The New Generation of VW Magotan
VW’s “One Country, Two Passats” policy seems to be paying off in the Chinese market, the New Midsize Sedan (NMS) has just been launched in Shanghai by Shanghai Volskwagen, but VW’s other partner in North East China, First Automobile Works are planning to launch their own European B7 Passat in stretched wheelbase form to fight [...]
MG5 to launch in June 2012, pricing at 90,000rmb to 130,000rmb
The MG5 was only just recently unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show but SAIC are eager to get the compact MG5 hatch into production as quickly as possible. Work on taking the car from the concept into the production stage is already underway with SAIC reportedly talking with several different major component suppliers for the [...]
Extra tough drink driving laws take effect on May 1st
Revised Road Traffic Safety Law and China’s Criminal Law Amendment took effect from May 1. Under the new law, drunk drivers will be given criminal sanctions under dangerous driving charge. In recent years, severe traffic accidents caused by drunk driving have aroused public attention as the number of vehicles increases rapidly in China. The Chinese [...]
Honda Insight to be launched in China
According to Honda’s management team at the Shanghai Auto Show, Honda are still keen to launch hybrid models into the Chinese market, despite the bombing of the Honda Civic Hybrid and also its rival, the Toyota Prius in China. The Insight is set to launch in China in 2012 according to early media reports, although [...]
Lifan to build second factory in Ethiopia to keep up with demand
Demand for Lifan’s cars in Ethiopia has been unprecedented according to the Chongqing based company. One year ago Lifan opened its first car factory, and noticably the first car factory ever, in Addis Aba the capital of Ethiopia, but demand for Lifan’s economy models has been much higher than expected and has resulted in a [...]
Hawtai-Saab deal signed, Hawtai takes 29% of Spkyer and will produce 93 in China
Saab’s days of looking for a new investor are officially over as of two hours ago, the Swedish car maker signed a deal with Hawtai that will see Hawtai take 29% of Saab’s parent company, Spyker, in a 60 million Euro deal. Victor Muller was present at a Beijing press conference earlier today when the [...]
Kia K2 to launch in June
Dongfeng-Kia successfully showed the new Kia K2, otherwise known as the Rio in other markets, to an impressed audience at the Shanghai Auto Show. The K2 is now slated to have its official Chinese sales launch in June this year and is expected to be one of the best selling small cars on the market [...]
The Saab-Hawtai press launch and rumors
At 3:30pm today Saab’s CEO Victor Muller and Hawtai’s Richard Zhang will appear on stage together to announce their plans to save Saab from closure, we will keep you abreast of all rumors and news as it happens. 12pm – Saab and Hawtai to announce the building of a new factory – if this [...]
Saab to announce deal with Hawtai Auto later today
Beijing based Hawtai Auto are about to have their name splashed onto the automotive big screen later today when they announce a surprise deal Saab. The deal has certainly been a surprise to most industry analysts, as it was largely expected that Saab would sign with a better known automaker, Youngman, Beijing Auto and also [...]
Saab courting several Chinese manufacturers
According to Western media reports that have been repeated in Chinese media reports, it appears that Saab’s current owners are deep in talks with three Chinese courtiers, Beijing Auto, Youngman and also Jiangsu Yueda are interested in saving Saab from the hangman’s noose. Beijing Auto seems like the most likely partner for Saab as they [...]
Shanghai Auto and VW to cooperate on development of large sedan
According to media reports VW and Shanghai Auto are teaming up to make a large C segment sedan that will be aimed at the local high end market and will be produced by Shanghai-VW. The Phaeton is already on sale in China but has had a limited success when compared to the equivalent Audi A8 [...]
Beijing parts company buys Dutch roof company
China’s automotive Merger and Acquisitions policy has not been based on the buying of OEM car manufacturers as constant rumors speculate, instead it has mostly been based on buying original equipment suppliers from Europe and the USA, thus injecting Chinese manufacturers deeper into the supply chain than the usual low technology automotive innards that Chinese [...]
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