Archive for October, 2011
Could China’s Debt Panic Derail Luxury Car Sales?
Whilst the Western part of the world is mired in recession, news about the free spending ways of Chinese consumers have grabbed headlines across the world in practically every conceivable language. Even while the ‘regular‘ car market is just expanding by 3-5% this year premium auto brands are seeing sales rises of epic proportions; in [...]
The Chinese Camry Leaked Ahead of Time
The world went Camry crazy a few weeks back when Toyota unveiled the new Camry, most major world markets got a variation of the Camry with America, Japan and of course China each getting their own slightly tweaked version. The above image shows the minor front end changes that the Camry has gone through for [...]
‘Begger Edition’ Audi Q5 seen testing in China
In the UK the lowest model of a car is called the ‘Poverty Specification‘, Chinese media like to refer to them as being ‘Beggar Edition‘ instead, so now we’ve got that slight cultural issue out of the way we can move on to the below Audi Q5 that was spotted out testing in China. In [...]
Chery QQ testing in India, possibly working with Tata
Can an alliance across the Himalayas possibly bare fruit? Chery are reportedly working to align themselves with Tata, India’s biggest auto maker, in a bid to take on another potential 1 billion customers in a rapidly growing market. Pictures of a Chery QQ testing on Indian roads have lead to the rumor mill going in [...]
Hawtai’s B21 ‘aka the Mini Bentley’ sedan spied
During the Beijing and Shanghai Auto Show’s Hawtai showed off their B21 compact sedan, but as always as soon as the curtain came down on the show the concept disappeared from sight for quite some time. We’re not entirely sure of the B21′s sizing at the moment, but its name indicates that it should be [...]
China car sales up 19% month to month, up 3.23% year on year
from CRI: China’s automobile sales rose 19.19 percent month-on-month to about 1.65 million units in September, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Thursday. Automobile output reached 1.60 million units last month, up 15 percent from August, the CAAM said in a statement. The September figure took the auto sales in the first nine [...]
Chevrolet Malibu to get 1.6T unit in China
The Chevrolet Malibu is shaping up to be an interesting car to say the least, the Malibu was unveiled in China earlier this year at the Shanghai Auto Show for the first time, Shanghai GM are slowly pushing Chevrolet up market in terms of its brand positioning and are aiming at the brand at a [...]
Honda to make electric cars in China
Whilst American Senators worry about American tech in China, the Japanese seem to be eager to enter a potentially hot market. Although there may be strong competition from local competitors such as SAIC and BYD, Honda are keen to introduce the Honda Fit EV as a locally made vehicle in 2012, and being locally made [...]
VW Group showing strong sales across the brands in China
VW Group shows no signs of slowing down in the Chinese market and may well be on course to becoming the world’s largest car manufacturer in the next few years. Owing to its successes in the Chinese market VW have been able to steer the Audi brand out of the mud and in to the [...]
Roewe 750 Hybrid to launch on Nov 20th
Although the 750 is quite old and nearing the end of its lifespan, SAIC have decided to launch a hybrid version. The Hybrid has been seen in concept form since early 2006 when the original 750 was launched, so why it has taken nearly 6 years to get the car to the market we do [...]
Foton planning to take on the Indian market
To the outside eye, the Indian auto market looks like a sweet low hanging peach – a market that could potentially be the same size as the Chinese market in the next five to ten years and has the same needs as the Chinese market, albeit with the steering wheel on the other side of [...]
Should local governments introduce Beijing and Shanghai style means to control traffic?
Although new energy propulsion systems seemed to be the talk of the town at the Chengdu based Global Auto Forum this year, it seems that the issue of traffic and where it will go was largely overlooked, any visitor to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or even any second tier city in China will see that the [...]
Nissan officially opens design studio in Beijing
With top class design based universities such as Tsinghua University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts being local neighbors, it’s easy to understand why Nissan chose to put its third design center in Beijing, whilst other manufacturers maybe flocking to put their design studios China’s financial center in Shanghai, Beijing is still ultimately the [...]
Audi to launch more RS vehicles in China
Audi A1 was officially launched in Beijing on October 9. Zhang Xiaojun, deputy managing director of FAW-Volkswagen’s Audi sales division, accepted an interview before the model’s launching ceremony. Zhang Xiaojun revealed that besides Audi A1 1.4TSI, Audi will introduce more A1 products of other displacements, including a 1.2TSI model and a highly-tuned 1.4TSI model. However, [...]
Chery to export to Europe in 2015
At the Global Auto Forum in Chengdu yesterday Chery’s deputy top man, Mr. Lu Jian Hui, revealed that Chery will aim to export cars to Europe in 2015, the announcement will no doubt stop rumors of ‘When are the Chinese coming?’ but will also give traditional European manufacturers a good opportunity to prepare for the [...]
Hyundai to launch new sub brand in November
After saying they would and then they would not, Hyundai are finally confirming that they will launch a sub brand which will cater towards economy buyers in the Chinese market. GM, Nissan, Honda (and Honda again, with a different manufacturer) have launched sub brands with their Chinese partners, the new Hyundai brand is expected to [...]
Mitsubishi fears the rise of developing world manufacturers and the resulting Mega Competition
During the opening remarks of the Global Auto Forum in Chengdu yesterday Mitsubishi’s President Mr. Osamu Masuko took to the stage to give his vision of the modern car industry. Mr. Masuko was clearly troubled about the era of what he called ‘Mega Competition‘ which would upset the usual competition between American, European and Japanese [...]
JLR to build cars with Chery – or maybe not
JLR themselves mentioned a while ago that they were looking to produce cars locally in the Chinese market to combat their Germanic luxury rivals, of course this fired up the rumor mill with many people pointing to local manufacturers such as Chery and Great Wall as potential bed mates for the British owned car company. [...]
How the Chinese avoid road side cameras – maxipads, CD’s and fake plates
Hiding your license plate from the law is serious business in other countries, it may lead to fines that could bankrupt your wallet, your license being revoked or even a jail stint. It’s serious business in China too, but owing to a lack of a police offices and an abundance of cars on the roads [...]
Caution on low-speed electric cars
Many Chinese automotive specialists are smiling from ear to ear these days, because many German brands introduced their electric city cars on Frankfurt Auto Show early last month, which are similar to their ideal low-speed electric car. Audi Urban, Volkswagen NILS and Opel RAK e are two-seater or one-seater city cars with smaller batteries and [...]
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