Author Archive
Sylphy Testing in China
The Nissan small car range has had an overhaul in the past few months, the Japanese company has introduced the new Tiida and new Sunny and will soon introduce a new Sylphy sedan. Nissan’s small car range has proved to be exceedingly popular over the past two years and has continually pushed the company’s sales [...]
Who is the world No.1 carmaker? Ask Chinese microvans
To me it is incredible that a Chinese micro van manufacturer focusing on domestic rural market will has made it to the list of global carmakers. This manufacturer is Shanghai-GM-Wuling, which is short for SAIC General Motors Wuling a three way tie up which sees GM have a 44% stake in the Chinese brand. Wuling [...]
Roewe W5 – The First Loser in the SUV market
The SUV segment is the most important growth point in Chinese car market last year. Against the background of dismal increasing rate 2% for the whole car market, SUV has increased by 19% in the first eleven months of 2011. Few models have unsatisfactory sales in this booming market, but RoeweW5 is one of the [...]
S6 -BYD’s sweet but unsustainable dream
Dream, is a very common word in the slogans of BYD. The Chinese domestic car manufacturer’ name is short for Build Your Dream. Meanwhile, the company holds three green dreams – solar power, electric car and energy storage. Moreover, BYD also has a dream to become Chinese No.1 carmaker in 2015 and Global No.1 carmaker [...]
School bus regulation becoming widespread but looser
Last month, China Car Times reported on a terrible school bus accident in Gansu Province, which killed 21 children. This event shocked the whole nation. On 28th November, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ordered the corresponding department must enact a safety regulation within one month. Legislative Affaire Office of the State Council has published the [...]
An unreasonable start –‘luxury’ electric cars
The concept of electric car is welcomed by many common people in China, mostly owing to the low charging cost, they believe electric car should be a cheap vehicle for everyone, however electric cars have so far been ridiculed by the launch price. BYD e6 is priced at 369,800 RMB (€43.9k), while Chevrolet Volt is [...]
Chinese cars on the WTO Road Part 3 – Price
This is part three in a multi part series on the effects of China’s ten year entry into the World Trade Organization, Part 1 Regulations , Part 2 Sales. At the end of 2002, Honda Accord 6th generation was still a bestselling model in the Chinese market, 3 years after it rolled off the production line [...]
Seat’s China goal is relatively easy
Seat’s sales for China in 2012 has been set at 4,000 units, this is not exactly an ambitious goal for SEAT in their starting year. China is the largest car market in the world, and some models are claiming sales of 4000 units per week so obviously there is plenty of scope for Seat to [...]
Chinese cars running on WTO road Part 2 – Sales
Thanks to China’s large population, China has become the largest car market in the world, but just 10 years ago, before China joined the World Trade Organization, it was a much smaller market. In 2000, 2,146,000 vehicles were sold in China. Most people are very proud since China had become the 8th largest market. The [...]
Whole nation calling for safe school buses
The news about a bus accident has been headlines for days in China. On Nov 16, a kindergarten’s small school bus crashed into a heavy-duty truck in Gansu, a northwest province. The death toll has risen to 21. In the accident, there were 64 people in the bus. Except one driver and one teacher, they [...]
Chinese cars running on WTO road Part 1 – Regulations
On 11th Dec, 2001, after 19 years of efforts, China became the 143th member of the World Trade Organization, this was a great turning point for the Chinese automotive industry. Chinese automotive market began to be opened up step by step, according to WTO’s regulations. The car import tariff in China was very high. It [...]
Can BYD really Build Your Dreams? E6 hits the market
BYD’s e6 personal edition hit the market in Shenzhen on 26 October after a 17-month stint in the Shenzhen taxi fleet. If everything goes well, the e6 will become a milestone of electric cars the world over, because of its range of 300km, and BYD will successfully build our dream – BYD is short for [...]
China’s New Subsidy Policy for Fuel Saving Cars Explained
Many car dealers in China are stressed these days, because most of their products failed to reach the new limit to get 3000 RMB (€340) subsidy for fuel-saving cars again. The subsidy policy for fuel-saving cars started from June 1, 2010, which has involved more than 400 models and 2 million cars. The so-called fuel-saving [...]
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 [...]
Chinese bus and coach manufacturers are urged to improve safety levels
In China, about 150,000 large and mid-size buses will be sold this year. Although this only accounts for 1% of Chinese total automobile sales, China is nearly a half of global bus market. Daimler expected global bus market volume to total approximately 310,000 units this year in March. Compared with European buses, Chinese buses are [...]
Camry will unlikely win again in China
The Toyota Camry was one of the greatest cars in Chinese market. Although the latecomer was launched in 2006, it became a best selling mid-size car instantly in 2007 and 2008. However, the new generation is unlikely to win the market again. The exterior of current Guangzhou-made Camry is specially designed for Chinese and Australian [...]
SEAT is coming to China
Spain is famous for its passionate football and bullfight, but henceforth, more Chinese people will know about Spain’s passion for cars. In April 2011, SEAT brand premiered in China at the Shanghai Auto Show. Four months later, SEAT Leon appeared on the list of Chinese official environment website which gave the impression Seat is not [...]
The ‘compact plus’ segment growing fast in China
Mid-size cars are growing bigger and bigger. When the Volkswagen Santana landed in China 25 years ago, the 4.54-meter-long car did not look small, but when the New Passat, a mid-size car specifically designed for American and Chinese market, hit the market, the 4.87-meter-long car offers few advantages in size when facing Honda Accord (US [...]
Small cars cannot satisfy Chinese girls
For many Chinese young girls, Mini Cooper and Volkswagen Beetle are always their dream cars. If they cannot afford them, which are priced from RMB 269k (€29k) and RMB 201k (€22k), smaller cars such as the Skoda Fabia are also acceptable. However, when they graduate from university, some of them will not be content will [...]
Can Roewe E1 hit the market in 2012?
Roewe E1, a small pure electric car from Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), will hit Chinese market late next year without any extensive demonstration. When China Car Times colleagues tested the new MG3 last week, it is confirmed by a staff of SAIC corporate communications dept. The E1 Concept was unveiled at Beijing Auto Show in April [...]
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