FAW may well be planning to IPO later this year, and use the funds raised to buy out their smaller Shenyang rival, Brilliance Automotive.
FAW’s massive profit growth in 2007, and the first half of 2008, has given the Chinese motoring giant the funds and the confidence to start buying up smaller rivals, either domestic or foreign.
Brilliance is relatively small company when compared to the automotive giants of China, such as FAW and SAIC. Brilliance sold only 300,000 vehicles in 2007, a mixture of self developed vehicles, and BMW’s which it builds with its joint venture partner, BMW.
Despite low sales, Brilliance have invested deeply in R&D, developing turbo assisted engines, hatchbacks, saloons, and station wagons in the past few months. Brilliance have only been in the car building industry for several years, however, their devotion, and speed of development in building cars has been phenomenal.
Published by Ash August 18th, 2008
in Guangzhou Honda.
The new Honda City has been spotted on the back of a truck in China, previously it was only seen in rendered form in India, which made Chinese consumers wonder if it really would come to China.
These pictures, taken from pcauto.com show the Honda City being taken around Chengdu on the back of a flatbed truck. The Honda City appears to have taken on an entirely new design, which is a departure from the previous rebadged Honda Jazz/Fit sedan. The new City looks like a cross between the new 8th Gen Accord, and the Honda Civic.
Published by Ash August 18th, 2008
in Chinese Car News.
The Landrover Defender is set to come to China, but dont get your hopes up just yet, or do get your hopes in case you have a spare 750,000rmb in your back pocket. The Defender is quite arguably the most iconic 4×4 of all time, with it seeing service in every major war of the last 50 years, and having a presence in every continent. The Defender is happy biding its time in bogs, in deserts, or in artic conditions. There is no where the Defender cant go! The Defender is expected to be launched in China in October this year, and is currently on show at the Dalian motor show.
China Car Times is unsure if the Defender is a direct Land Rover import through the Shanghai Distributer, or if the Defender is being brought in through third party channels.
There are a few Defenders in China already, although their numbers are thought to be very few. Defenders can be regulary seen taking part in 4×4 events in the western reigons of China.
Published by Ash August 18th, 2008
in BYD Auto and Chinese Car News.
BYD are about to make automotive history by launching the cheapest hybrid motor onto the world, starting at 100,000rmb (14,000USD) the BYD F3 Hybrid is certainly the cheapest, a lot cheaper than the base Toyota Prius ($21,000USD)
The F3 Hybrid will be formally known as the BYD F3DM once it is launched at the end of the year, DM stands for Dual Mode. BYD will also be launching a ‘pure electric’ BYD F3, although we are currently unaware of any launch dates for that particular model, or if it will even see Chinese domestic sales. The BYD F3 DM is likely to be at the forefront of any march into the European sales arena, for those who question BYD’s safety record, the F3 passed a Russian crash test to European NCAP standards several months ago.
Previously, BYD said the famous BYD F1 would be a 20,000rmb car, however as the launch date came closer the price of the car also increased! Many Chinese commentators on the F3 DM were vastly in support of the ground breaking F3 DM, but some were distracted by the previous F1 price debacle.
Technical specifications on the BYD F3 DM were not immediately available from BYD, or media reports, but we wait with great anticpation for more information.
BYD are also planning to launch other DM vehicles over the next few years, including SUVs, and MPV’s which will follow the design of the current F3.
Published by Ash August 18th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
The current Ford Focus has sold exceptionally well for Chang’an Ford in the PRC, and with the new model shown below they may just carry on with their sales trend, Ford did sell over 120,000 Focus models in 2007 alone, the Focus accounted for 58% of total Ford sales in 2007 according to Chinese media reports.
The Chinese Ford Focus comes in saloon and hatchback varients, both of which seem equally popular with young proffesionals and small families. Power for the Focus is derived from 1.8 or 2.0l engines, both of which are mated to a choice of automatic or manual gearboxes. This new Focus, when launched in September, will find itself up against a whole lot of competition in the form of new models from other manufacturers, namely the new Bora, the VW Lavida, and the Buick Excelle.
The new Focus is expected to hit the market on September 25th, pricing is expected to remain similar to the current models.
Published by Ash August 17th, 2008
in Statistics.
In July 2008, the mark 2 VW Jetta managed to top the sales chart again, its more of a monthly occurance rather than an actual random occurance. We’re not sure why it manages to top the charts time and time again, although we’re sure its not due to its modern design! The Jetta probably remains popular due to its bombproof mechanicals, cheap cost of running, economy. Its a car that Chinese consumers are well used to, its been in China for over 20 years in its current unshakeable guise, so its no wonder that they are not in any hurry to get rid of them.
Suprises in Julys sales would be the Skoda Octavia - this brand has only been introduced into China for several months, yet its already firing its way up the sales league. The two Elantras are the combined sales of the Elantra, and the facelifted China only Elantra. Further down the list, we have the VW Sagitar, which is the fifth generation of Jetta, but is still outsold by its older brother. The only two domestic players to get their mark into the top sellers list are Chery (with the A5) and BYD (with their F3), both of which are roughly half the cost of their foreign rivals. The Kia Certao high sales position maybe due to their recent launch of the Cerato hatchback (badge engineered Hyundai Elantra).
Published by Ash August 17th, 2008
in Statistics.
The 8th Gen Honda Accord pulled out from behind the Toyota Camry in the past few months to claim top spot in the mid sized car market place, outselling it by almost double. The new Nissan Teana also gained a high place despite only being on the market for a matter of weeks. The Passat continues to sell well, with Volkswagen pretty much having a car in each top sales list, (note - the VW Magotan is mistakenly written as VW Sagitar in the above table).
No domestic maker has any product in the top 10, with this segment of the market being controlled by the foreign marques, although all of the above cars are domestically made via joint venture partnerships with local manufacturers.
It seems that even Roewe and MG did not get enough sales to knock the Audi A4 off even the tenth spot, we hope that can be rectified over the coming months with sales of Roewe 550 and the upcoming MG version.
Published by Ash August 17th, 2008
in Statistics.
Large car sales are still smalle in China, and appear to be dominated by the Americans, Euros, and Japanese marques. Audi claim the top spot with their popular A6 lengthed model, which is a China only model. Recently FAW-Audi produced the 100,000th Audi A6 in China, and they gave it the composer of the Olympic song, Chen Qi Gang.
Overall, it looks like large car sales are down in July 2008 on June 2008, could it be that even the rich are feeling a squeeze in the current economic climate?
Published by Ash August 17th, 2008
in Statistics.
In July 2008, the Buick GL8 rules the roost again, 8 years after it was launched in China. The GL8 was refined in 2005, and continues to sell very well, carving its own niche in the premium business MPV market. Poor sales from the Dongfeng-Citroen Picasso are quite shocking, the same for the Kia Carnival.
MPV’s with more than 5 seats are not overly popular for family use, as Chinese families are usually a nuclear family. Most 7 seater and up MPV’s are used for business use. Recently VW and Ford introduced 5 seater versions of their MPV’s, to encourage uptake, as cars with more than 5 seats have to pay double road tax.
Published by Ash August 17th, 2008
in Statistics.
SUV sales seem to be slightly down in July 08, the SUV market saw a new entry into the segment from Nissan with their Qashqai, sales of which appear to be strong. The SUV market is the only segment, besides the small car segment, that has Chinese players amongst the top 10. Chery have always managed to claim a top spot with their Chery Tiggo model, despite it being on the market for several years. JAC’s Eagle SUV is a recently launched SUV, based on the body of a previous generation Hyundai Sante Fe, but power derived from the Mitsubishi stable. The Toyota Prado Landcruiser supply line and subsequent sales were most probably affected by the recent earthquake in Sichuan, the Prado is made by FAW-Sichuan, in Sichuan province. The Kia Sportage continues to sell well since swapping to Chinese domestic production rather than being a Korean import, the Sportage is quite a cheap car in China with it starting at 130,00rmb for the base 2wd 2.0l manual model.
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