Archive for July, 2011
Discussion: Has China’s automotive industry built a powerful edge or not?
This article in The People’s Daily claims that China has built a powerful competitive edge amongst its international automotive peers, on the one hand it does strike up some truths, on the other hand international companies have been in the business of making cars for 60 to 100 years. What is your take? Please post [...]
BYD stocks drop as car loan deal fails
From China.org Shares of BYD Co fell 3.16 percent on Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday after its car loan joint venture collapsed. BYD, backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, said its French partner Compagine Generale de Location d’Equipements decided to dissolve the joint venture due to concerns about increasing risks in China’s automobile market, according to [...]
Next generation Roewe 750 is already road testing
The Roewe 750 will die in 2012 and be swapped out for the latest generation which will be based on a GM platform, the current 750 has had a good run considering its based on the Rover 75 which was unveiled in 1998 and delivered to customers in early ’99 – a 13 year life [...]
Suzuki WagonR to be stretched for your pleasure in Chinese market
The WagonR is still in production in China – other world markets received the Opel based model a few years back but Changhe Suzuki still make the older generation for the Chinese market. The WagonR has actually undergone a minor face melting change in early 2010, but now they are making it a little long [...]
Kumho to leave China, but to return under a new brand
Kumho were forced to recall 300,000 sub standard and poor quality tires in April this year in the Chinese market when the government intervened and forced Kumho into a recall. Kumho have also run into issues in June this year when its workers went on strike at their Changchun factory, the strike lasted for three [...]
Foton leadership moves into Hawtai
Hawtai have gone through six CEO’s in the past 9 years with each averaging just under 18 months on the job, it’s not entirely clear as to why Hawtai CEO’s come and go so easily, but the previous CEO’s departure came at a critical time for the company as they move from being a specialist [...]
Baojun 630 updated ahead of launch
As mentioned before on China Car Times, GM used the launch of the Baojun brand at the Shanghai Auto Show to solicit opinions from crowds the vast crowds on the sedan before it makes it to market later this month, it seems that the suggestions were so many that GM actually delayed the production of [...]
FAW announces a new brand: Ou Lai
First Automobile Works are one of China’s earliest car makers, they have partnerships with Mazda, Toyota, VW and Audi and also have several of their own brands: Hong Qi (Red Flag), Besturn, and Xia Li. Hong Qi is probably the most prestigous of the three brands as it was China’s first car brand and initially [...]
BYD boss expects substantial profits from new energy vehicle business in three years
BYD’s chairman Wang Chuanfu looked glad at the company’s A-share launching ceremony on June 30th when the big screen showed that BYD opened at 22 yuan per share, up 22.22% from the IPO price. An insider said frankly that Wang Chuanfu was upset before the ceremony as they found previously that the stock was not [...]
Issues beneath China’s seemingly-blossoming electric vehicle industry
China will release the final version of the Energy-efficient and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Planning soon. On the surface it seems that the industry is blossoming with many car companies offering pure EV’s and the industry supply chain ramping up to support them. However, a Chinese media outlet recently made an in-depth survey into [...]
Seat denied Chinese production, but Audi A3 and 7th Gen Golf to go ahead
Insiders reveal that FAW-Volkswagen has determined to make the Audi A3 and Golf 7 at its recently-approved Foshan plant. The rumored local production plan of Seat brand has been denied for now, and it is unlikely that the Spanish brand will see production in China in the short term. It seems FAW-Volkswagen is more inclined [...]
Wen Jia Bao visits MG UK
Last week China’s premier Wen Jia Bao visited the UK on a trade visit to boost trade volumes between the UK and China. Wen’s visit saw him fly into the central city of Birmingham and he also paid a visit to Stratford upon Avon and finished his visit in London where he met with the [...]
Toyota’s sales fall in June
Toyota’s Chinese sales fell by 2.4% in June from a year earlier to just over 59,500 vehicles according to media reports, first half year sales were also down by 2.2% to just over 354,400 vehicles. Toyota’s China sales goal for 2011 still remains at 900,000 vehicles, and with Toyota just over a third of the [...]
Mazda sales down 18% in year on year sales
Mazda’s auto sales dropped by a shocking 18% in year on year sales according to a Reuters report, which is the companies third straight month with slowing car sales in the world’s hottest car market. Mazda’s slow sales could attributed to the Japanese earthquake which increased product delivery times and also a product line up [...]
Kia K2 hatch spotted out
Kia’s China line up is hotting up, the Kia range has benefitted a great deal from Kia’s style injection which gave birth to the Kia K5 and then the new Kia Sportage (known as the Sportage R in China) The forthcoming Kia K2 hatch seems to have taken the styling of the K5′s front end [...]
New Suzuki Swift coming to China
If it wasn’t for the ever popular Suzuki Swift, Suzuki may have gone the way of Daihatsu and said sayonara to auto markets outside of Japan a long time ago, the new generation of Swift was introduced into Western markets over a year ago but at the same time the Chinese market Swift got a [...]
Lifan 720 spied ahead of launch
Do you remember Lifan? The small Chongqing based company has failed to make any major inroads into the national Chinese market over the past 2 years but they do remain a large player in the Chongqing and Sichuan areas where they have a loyal fan base. At the Shanghai Auto Show Lifan’s small stand showed [...]
New BMW 1-Series spotted testing in China
The BMW 1-Series has been a minor hit for BMW China, of course with the car being imported into China the price remains high but it has become a popular model with younger Chinese buyers that want smaller premium cars with sports overtones. The new 1-series has a more aggressive style which has been taken [...]
GM’s June sales up 9.9%
GM seems to have beaten the sour outlook for June 2011 by posting a 9.9% increase in year on year sales according to a Reuters reports, GM managed to sell 193,878 vehicles in China in June across its two joint ventures with Shanghai Auto Industry Corp and First Automobile Works. SAIC produces GM’s passenger car [...]
Driving the world’s longest sea bridge in Qingdao (two times!)
In the past week I’ve received a few emails via China Car Times that basically said we’ve dropped the ball on various issues, we didn’t report on Wen Jia Bao’s visit to the UK where he launched the MG6 Magnette (aka, the MG6 sedan) and we didn’t report on the grand opening of the World’s [...]
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