Mazda currently has two JV’s in China, previously they were in partnership with Haima, but Haima were eventually taken over by FAW and then Mazda set up another JV with Chang’an.
Mazda Motor Corp., 11 percent owned by Ford Motor Co., plans to increase production capacity in China to meet growing demand in the world’s biggest car market.
“We need to expand current capacity when we look into next year and the year after,” Chief Financial Officer Kiyoshi Ozaki said in an interview yesterday in Tokyo. Ozaki declined to say …

It is rumored that Chang’an Automobile and PSA are currently deep in talks to start a new joint venture in China
PSA have been in talks with various manufacturers since 2007 to start a second joint venture in China away from their sole partner, Dongfeng. Previously PSA were in talks with Hafei regarding a new JV, but apparently Dongfeng were not happy with PSA’s shopping for a new partner. A PSA insider was quoted by the Xin Kuai Bao newspaper as saying that Dongfeng were far from happy with the PSA-Hafei …

From the Shanghai Daily:
PSA Peugeot Citroen SA has been in talks with Chinese car maker Chongqing Changan Automobile Co about setting up its second venture in China to tap rapidly growing demand, people close to the deal said.
A company executive from Changan, which also partners with Ford, Mazda and Suzuki, denied earlier media reports saying the joint venture would be formed after the Lunar New Year holiday which falls on February 14. No financial details were unveiled.
Since early 1990s, Peugeot-Citroen has cooperated with Dongfeng Motor Corp, China’s third-biggest auto group, …

Chang’ans best selling Ben Ben mini car has been given an extensive face lift for 2010 and called the Ben Ben Mini according to auto.sohu.com:
The first generation Ben Ben appeared to be a chunky but useable car, the next generatation appears to have an entirely new door line, rear end and has been given a more cute front end.
Chang’an is determined to take the fight to the BYD F0 and Brilliance FRV which have come in and started to dominate the small car segment in China, the final price of …

Chang’an are launching their Ben Ben love model in Chongqing this week before it goes on national sale all over China. The first four models are manual, and the top of the line is automatic. Prices appear to be very cheap for what you’re getting:

Basic Manual – 38,000rmb
Standard Manual – 41,900rmb
Fashion Manual – 44,900rmb
Value Manual – 47,900rmb
Value Automatic – 58,900rmb

Apparently the new updated Ben Ben has 33 different areas that Chang’an motors have improved, such as interior and exterior design issues.

Chang’an have an impressive self designed line up, in fact, the majority of their sales do appear to come from their own developed vehicles whilst their JV sales with Mazda and Ford only account for a small amount of their total sales.
The latest vehicle from Chang’an appears to be a compact MPV that follows the same design language as the smaller 2010 Ben Ben mini car and is likely to launch in the first quarter of 2010 alongside the reinvented Ben Ben.
This new MPV is likely to counter …

The Fiesta is an excellent motor, and that is reflected by its fantastic sales.
In November alone Ford sold over 5000 Fiesta’s, making it the best month to date for the little motor that appears to have captured a certain market niche in a segment that is awash with cheap cars that cost as little as a third of the Fiesta. Ford are not happy with sales of just 5000 cars per month, they are actually aiming to double that monthly figure in 2010 to average 10,000 Fiesta’s being driven …

From Freep.com
Ford Motor Co. is talking to its partners in China about changing the structure of the three-way Changan Ford Mazda venture in the world’s hottest car market, Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s new president for Asia Pacific and Africa, told the Free Press Monday.
He also said that Ford, a latecomer to the Chinese market, aims to significantly boost its 2% market share there. “Clearly we believe that we should have a stronger presence than 2% of the market,” he said. “We need to grow our business in Asia.”Hinrichs, 42, is a …

The Chang’an Ben Ben was arguably the first interesting looking Chinese designed mini cars, whilst the others were either heavily inspired or just out right copied from other existing models. The Ben Ben has been quite a cash cow for Chang’an in the past few years since its launch, and probably will continue to be a great source of income for the company thanks to a radical redesign for 2010.
The Ben Ben will be now known as the Ben Ben Love and Ben Ben Mini, although CCT is not entirely …

Chinese pick up trucks are mostly based on ancient Isuzu technology, they do the job, they are small robust vehicles that can take a hammering or two, but they don’t look very ‘Da Qi’ compared to their foreign counterparts (which don’t sell in China, yet). JAC’s Jianglings own N350 pick up is getting ready to buck the small ugly trend for Chinese pick ups and plan on building a mid size truck for the Chinese market, and will most likely be exported as well.
The Jiangling N350 has been given the …

It was announced in the middle of last year that the central government plans to consolidate the Chinese car industry, which now stands at around 89 different manufacturers and brands. The first to merge were SAIC and Nanjing MG, which made them into a regional power house, the Anhui duo Chery and JAC are rumoured to be merging sometime next year but in the meantime Chang’an has become the car company to accquire another.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) currently has two car making ventures in China, one of …

Chang’an are having a very successful few months mostly thanks to the governments ‘vehicles to the village‘ policy which has spurred villagers to take hold of government subsidies to take up small car and small goods vehicle ownership.
Arguably the most popular vehicle in Chang’ans line up is the minivan, of which they have made quite a few and must have sold quite a few over the past few months thanks to the vehicles to the villages programme which has seen drastic tax cuts for villagers buying sub 1.3l vehicles …

Chang’an recently launched their own mini sedan which has sold quite well to date, as well as their new upcoming 2010 Ben Ben, Chang’an also have plans to enter the premium segment that has long been controlled by the likes of Mercedes, BMW, and Audi in the Chinese market.
The cars shown above are variations of the Chang’an CD101 concept that Chang’an showed at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year. No actual production date has been set, nor is there any information on what engines or size the end …

The 2010 Chang’an Ben Ben is well under development, and has been spotted out testing. The Chang’an Ben Ben has offered stiff resistance to the march of the Chery QQ in 2007/8 but has suffered slightly in 2009 due to the launch of other super cheap, super cool super minis such as the BYD F0 and the Brilliance FRV.
2010 Chang’an Ben Ben:
The 2010 Ben Ben features a lighter, softer front end with a new nose and lower bumpers, the rear end also has softer rounder light sets which have …

Chang’an, the JV partner to Ford in China, have made their own ‘Focus inspired’ hatchback, which is set to retail for around 50,000rmb.
Chang’an and Ford have been making the Ford Focus together in the Chinese market for the past few years, a venture which has been very successful for both parties. Chang’an have been working on their own model line up with limited success. Their latest offering is a hatchback version, the Chang’an Zhi Xiang, with obvious Ford Focus styling cues around its derrière.
When launched later this year, …

Lets get something clear from the start: I hate Ford Fiestas. This maybe a bold statement to make at the beginning of a review of Ford’s latest super mini, but let me at least state my case. My dearest Grandmother had a 1979 Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus. I was often put on the back seat as my grandmother took me on wild tours of the countryside of Northern England; as it was the ‘olden times’ this particular Ford Fiesta didn’t have seat belts, so I bounced off the roof, the …

The Chang’an Concept car was slightly ridiculed over at Autoblog for looking a little like a Citroen concept, although as the Chang’an concept is so abstract, we couldn’t see any sort of resemblance.
From what we understand, the little Chang’an E301 is expected to come with an electric or hybrid drivechain. In the pictures, the E301 looks like quite a big vehicle, in reality, the concept is quite small. Perhaps this concept is set to be a Qashqai like softroader for Chang’ans car line up.

Odd how the owner of the company, and interviewee Mr. Bernsten wouldnt say who the manufacturer of the car originally was, despite it being rather obvious.

Automaker CEOs don’t make a habit of pulling up to The Boston Globe in a rental truck, dumping a prototype in the parking lot, and handing the keys to a writer. But that’s exactly what happened Monday as BG Automotive president Barry Bernsten and a lime green hatchback made an impromptu visit as I returned with lunch. Usually food has a much higher priority than …

According to yesterdays rumours, it seems that an unlikely Chinese player has stepped upto the table to take Volvo off Ford’s hands. Chang’an and Ford are joint venture partners in China, and do actually produce the Volvo S40 in China, and assemble the S80 as well, but it seems that Chang’an may actually want to step up to the plate and take over Volvo completely. Volvo executives and Chang’an executives had high level meetings during last months Guangzhou Auto Show, after the show ended Ford Asia executives and Chang’an executives …

The Chang’an V101 super mini sedan is expected to be launched next year according to an undisclosed source. The V101 is Chang’ans’ second foray into the super mini segment, previously Chang’an launched the extremely popular Chang’an Ben Ben which has continued to sell very well since its launch. The V101 is based off the mark5 Ford Fiesta platform (Ford B platform) and is essentially the cousin to the Landwind Fiesta.
The V101 will be paired to a 1.3 and a 1.5l engine. The V101 will be aimed at the BYD F3, …

The Chang’an Sedan that is often mentioned on CCT, the Zhi Xiang aka the CV8, is to have a hybrid counterpart in the second part of 2008 according to press reports. Further more, the CV8 hybrid is expected to cost 20-30% more than the petrol version, which means it will be easily in the 100k RMB price range.
Chang’an will also launch the hatchback version of the CV8 later this year, this will be priced in the 80,000rmb to 100,000rmb range. A smaller cedan, the V101 will also be launched in …

All Chinese car companies utilize some sort of camouflage when it comes to testing their cars, as most Chinese pedestrians are way too technologically savvy for their own good, quick and easy access to camera phones and internet uploads means that car designs never stay secret for too long. We’ve seen various different types of camouflage introduced from manufacturers, which makes it pretty easy to tell which manufacturer is which, even under the camo; SAIC and Ricardo employ ultra neat zebra style patterns that really do make spotting their cars …

Chang’an are getting ready to launch two new AO class vehicles for 2008 according to automotive reports.
The V101, actual name unknown, will be launched in the second part of 2008

The V101 will be a 1.5l engine, with a BOSCH injection system. Furthermore, the car is expected to retail for 50 to 70,000rmb when launched. The 1.5l engine was developed by Chang’an in cooperation with the German company, FEV. The engine can produce 137 Nm at 3500RPM all the way to 4500RPM.

 Changan’s latest sedan, the Zhi Xiang, will have a …

The Ben Ben is an excellent little run around, its also pretty safe as we found out from its crash test score. The recently launched Ben Ben sports features a two tone paint job; usually black on the roof and pillars, with any other color everywhere else and the addition of some other ’sporty’ accessories such as black alloy wheels.

What can we say? We can see where Chang’an were going when they wanted to make a Ben Ben sports, but it looks like the design budget was a little …

The Chang’an MPV (above) is a pretty car, its got 7 seats, its loaded with tech (inc DVD and GPS Nav), its a 2.0l engine paired to a 4 speed auto, and best of all, its 130,000rmb. Not bad, eh? Now that the good is out of the way, lets take a look at the bad.

 
The interior plastics are quite harsh, and are of cheaper stock. Around the bottom of the center console where the drink cup supports meet the silver (see top picture, on right) …