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Gas prices up in Beijing - rest of the PRC to follow?

Although oil prices maybe as low as $88USD at the moment, gasoline prices in Beijing seem to be going up. A litre of 93# will now cost 6.37rmb (from 6.20rmb) and 97# will now cost 6.78rmb (from 6.60rmb)

Reasons for the price increase seem to be blamed on the number of foreign/chinese joint venture gasoline stations in the Beijing area, although the real reason is likely to be that Beijing’ers actually enjoyed their cleaner air over the Olympic period when car use was limited. The limits are set to come back, but increasing the price of oil at the pump is more than likely to persuede even more people to leave their cars at home and use public transport instead.

One Beijing taxi driver was interviewed by a auto.sina.com.cn journalist, and commented that his fuel bill for each month is expected to rise by 100rmb, giving him a total fuel bill of around 5000rmb.

The price rises may not be much, but its no doubt set to effect the auto industry in Beijing.

Super rich in China and Middle East came super car makers afloat

China Car Times rarely sees Lambo’s around the PRC, but Ferraris have become a regular sight. Boston.com elaborates: ww 

Ferrari, Lamborghini and other luxury carmakers say they’re faring better than mass-market producers as sales to the super-rich in China and the Middle East sustain demand even as world auto sales fall the most in at least a decade.Ferrari sales in China rose 25 percent to 200 cars in the first nine months, Chief Executive Officer Amadero Felisa said in an interview at the Paris Motor Show. Lamborghini’s Chinese orders jumped 60 percent to 45 cars and sales in the Middle East grew 52 percent. The US showed a 5 percent decline.”The Middle East and China are where demand is stronger,” Lamborghini Chairman Stephan Winkelmann said yesterday in an interview at the Paris show. “Network expansion is one of our main objectives, taking into account where new wealth islands are and making sure demand always outstrips our offer.”Ferrari’s success in emerging markets means the maker of the 205 mile per hour 599 GTB Fiorano is headed for a record profit this year, Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said. The Maranello, Italy-based company is now the fastest-growing unit of parent Fiat SpA, with sales up 21 percent in the second quarter and trading profit jumping 50 percent to 105 million euros ($145 million). Volkswagen AG’s Lamborghini, whose cheapest Gallardo model starts at 150,000 euros, aims to lift deliveries 5 percent this year. Global auto sales may fall 0.9 percent, according to JD Power & Associates.Annual economic growth of more than 10 percent for 10 straight quarters in China has boosted the ranks of the newly wealthy. Ferrari’s sales to East Asia will account for about a quarter of total deliveries next year, matching the US for the first time, CEO Felisa said. The company’s busiest Asian outlet, and ranked fourth overall, is in Macao, the only place in China where casinos are legal. The busiest dealership is in Las Vegas.

Out of interest, what super cars have our readers spotted around the PRC?  We regulary see Porsche, Ferraris, but hardly any Lambo’s. Other luxury brands such as Bentley, and Rolls Royce are often seen cruising the streets. 

10k USD or there abouts - what can you get in the PRC?

$10,000USD used to be quite an amount of cash for a car, you could get a decent second hand car for $10k, but with the massive depreciation of the USD over the past few months, the amount of car you could get for your money has also gone down quite a bit. China Car Times had a look for some cars that you might be able to buy (not including sales tax), brand new, for around 10,000USD, and here are the results:

BYD F1

The F1 (left) may have been ridiculed by the press for being a Toyota clone, but that doesnt stop it from being an excellent little car. For the price, starting at a mere 36,000RMB ($5,260USD) and rising to 46,900rmb ($6,700USD) the car is an utter steal if you only want to go from A to B and need a car as a transportation tool and not a status symbol, although the F1 is pretty cool. The F1 we saw at an auto show was suprisingly well built, usually show cars for auto shows are rushed together, but this BYD F1 felt like it had been put together by a pro, as it should have been.

Brilliance FRV

The FRV seems to be seen as a hatchback answer to the BS4, truth be told, it appears to be far too short to be a hatchback, it should be seen as an entirely new model in its own right. The FRV took us a bit by surprise when it first launched, the front end looked great, the rear end looked liked it was rushed together, but once you’ve seen the FRV in various different colors then you can really see that the FRV is actually a great looking car. Quality and performance, we couldnt tell you about straight away, but a quick surf of the Chinese FRV owners club reveals many a satisfied buyer. The cheapest 1.3l model starts at a frugal 55,800rmb ($8,000USD) to 63,800rmb ($9206 USD).

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If Brilliance ever bring out the long awaited rumoured 170bhp FRV 1.8T sports model (possibly GT model), China Car Times will be down to the Brilliance dealership in a flash.

Chery A3

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So far we’ve shown you a mini, a compact hatch, so what we need now is a compact sedan. This comes in the form of the beautiful Chery A3. The A3 measures 4.3m long, which is quite a big car considering the price. The 1.6 basic A3 will cost 81,800rmb, the 1.6 standard will cost 85,800rmb, and the higher speced 1.6l Elite model will be 89,800rmb, so all slightly above the 10k USD marker, but what more could you ask for in a brand new car? The A3 is a China Car Times favorite, so is the Hafei Saibao line up, but they dont appear to be selling en masse at all, so we had to pick the A3 out. You can read everything we’ve said about the Chery A3 here.

If there is one thing we’ve missed out, its an SUV. The only SUV we can think of that actually looks good and may have limited off road potential is the latest updated version of the Zotye 5008.

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The original Zotye 2008 didnt come with any airbags, it was pure motoring, it did have ABS though. But what can you expect for a mere 55,900rmb? ($8,700USD) There are a few other SUV’s in the sub 10,000USD section, including the Great Wall Safe at just 70,780rmb ($10,344rmb) for the base 2.2l 2wd model, remember the Great Wall Safe is pretty much an older Toyota Hilux with a roof instead of a pick up bed, then theres the infamous Landwind X6, which is just over the $10,000USD marker. A 1.6 manual Chery Tiggo is also a little over budget, but still reasonable enough to make the list. A competitor to the Zotye 5008 in the super cheap SUV catergories comes from the Zhejiang UFO SUV, basically a clone of the first generation 3 door Toyota RAV4, the UFO starts at 69,000rmb ($10,084USD) for the cheapest 1.6 manual model.

Although the above list is just a few of our favorite picks, we can see each segment, (super mini, compact hatch, compact sedan, and compact SUV markets) hotting up all over the world as the price of oil continues to go up, and families continue to downsize to meet financial needs.

Next time, we’ll make a list of sub 10,000USD list of pick up trucks and other commercial vehicles to highlight some of the best of China.

A Cup Of Cha on the Chinese Car Sales Tax Adjustment

In the midst of the Olympics, I missed an interesting story about a car tax that will go into effect September 1. Ostensibly it is designed to reduce pollution and vehicles that use a lot of gasoline. However, as the Economist points out, the real goal is to reduce imports from foreign car manufacturers, who conveniently make most gas-guzzlers.

Yet, while that sounds sinister, there is no real way to be cynical about this move. Even though China did not come up with this idea with the environment in mind, it nonetheless shows how the WTO can help promote a more efficient marketplace. After the WTO Court ruled that China’s import tariffs were in violation of their committments to free trade last month, the government came up with a creative way to continue to protect its local auto industry.

One might argue that this is protectionism, and it is. But the Chinese have managed to create a genius and positive form of it. They were only able to implement this policy because the local car industry has a natural advantage over foreign competition: its fleet is more fuel efficient. If, for example, things were reversed and domestic industry was producing gas guzzlers, the Chinese never could have gotten away with taxing smaller engines. Instead, China can promote this policy because it is in the interest of the enviornment, an area that the free market typically ignores (free market economics never work well with externalities).

So I say kudos to an increasingly sophisticated group of Chinese lawmakers. Regardless of the motives behind the move, the results will be positive. Not only will more of the cars on the road be of the Chinese small-engine variety, which use less gas, but you should also expect to see foreign competitors building more models that fit the mold. And don’t be surprised if many of them end up in markets outside of China, cleaning the air for those in the rest of the world as well.

A Cup of Cha

The only reasoning against this is that many of the Chinese car makers are intent on knocking the Camry and Accord out of the mid size sedan segment, and by using their own, sometimes crude engine designs or off the shelf Mitsubishi motors.

VW Scirocco coming to the PRC

The first generation VW Scirocco was the stuff of dreams to a 15 year old China Car Times back in the day, ‘I will have one of those when I grow up, Max Power style!’ Sadly, soon after that, CCT ended up in China, where there are no VW Scirocco’s to be found, until now. VW have announced that the  Scirocco will be making a splash landing into the PRC in November 2008 where it is expected to be officially launched at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The 6th generation Golf GTI is also expected to be launched in China at the same time, although internet reports do say that the Scirocco will be coming prior to the Golf GTI.VW are attempting to spice up their incredibly large line up in China with some interesting cars, such as the Passat CC coupe, EOS and now the Scirocco. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the current VW Golf GTI costs a pretty penny at 390,000rmb to 410,000rmb.  

09 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, on sale at 2.35 million RMB

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Porsche launched their Cayenne Turbo S in China several days ago, the specifications are eye watering, but that is nothing compared to the price: 2.35 million RMB, roughly double what CCT paid for a good house.

If you want to put down a deposit to secure yourself the Turbo S, then you’ll have to come up with 200,000rmb, roughly what CCT paid for a good car. In 2007, Porsche sold 2,150 Cayennes in China, which accounted for 80% of Porsche China sales.

Porsche officially (they were available before that) came to China in 2001 first in Beijing, and then spread elsewhere as demand for Porsche cars grew. According to media reports, Porsche sold a mere 205 cars in 03/04, but sold 3105 cars in 06/07.

CCT can honestly say that he see’s around 10 black Cayennes everyday, which makes us wonder 1) There must be many more wealthy people than we think 2) Do Porsche sell them in any other color in China)

Audi A8 4.2l price goes up by 200,000rmb

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The recent adjustments of the sales tax on big engined cars has claimed a few victims, but the Audi A8 may well be the most prominent in China.

The Audi A8 4.2l was previously priced at 1.42 million rmd but due to the Sept 1st tax alteration, the Audi A8 is now a cool 1.62 million RMB. Its a tough life, being rich.

Daihatsu Bego spotted in China - end of year launch?

Daihatsu seem to be wanting to get back into the PRC market after several years absense from the PRC, their last car, the Tarios, was sold in few numbers until it turned into the Zotye SUV (although we’re not entirely sure how). Previously Daihatsu were involved in making their minivans in China, then small SUV’s before dissapearing completely, however, it appears that Daihatsu are having a second run at the Chinese market with a new line up, including the Copen roadster, and also this Daihatsu Bego which was spotted recently in China:

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The compact SUV market has really taken off in China, with stiff competition between the Japanese and the Korean brands, although the Chinese brands have yet to bring in a real fighter other than the Chery Tiggo, the Bego’s expected end of year launch in the PRC is only going to add pressure to the Chinese makers to push out their own competitive compact SUV.

Zotye 5008 - The 2008 gets a makeover, and a name change

The Zotye SUV is a nice little SUV for a nice little price (around 50-60,000rmb) and with rear wheel drive, it might even take you off the tarmac (although not too far). The Zotye was given a makeover for 2008, and a name change to coincide with the year 2008, cleaverly Zotye came up with ‘2008′ but now that the year 2008 is drawing to a close, Zotye have given their SUV a slight facial update, and a new name ‘5008′ which will ensure that the SUV will be in production for quite a few years to come.

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The 5008 is on show this week at the Chengdu motor show where the car appears to be bringing in the crowds, its cheap, it looks good, its economical, what more could Chinese consumers want in a first car, or a second small car?  The Zotye 2008, quite frankly, had an awful dashboard, but this situation seems to have been rectified in the 5008. The new dashboard seems to be quite bland but functional, after all, this is a 50,000rmb car. Engines are from the Mitsubishi stable, with both a 1.3l and a 1.5l available.

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Verdict: We like it. The best looking little SUV to come out of Zotye yet, even if it is a Daihatsu Terios, with Polo headlights. We hope they change the name for foreign markets though, it appears to have been named ‘Xpolsion’ for Egyptian markets, which doesnt strike us as being a great name for a car, unless you’re a TX4.

Chevrolet Orlando, a Paris launch but a road tester for China!

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The Chevrolet Orlando MPV is going to be launched at the Paris Auto Show later this month, but Chinese motor fans have been quick to spot a GM MPV out testing, and many believe it to be the upcoming Chevvy Orlando. The Orlando isnt expected to be launched until 2009, or even 2010, but the car is undergoing road testing in and around the Shanghai area. The Chevrolet Cruze is expected to be launched before the Orlando.

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China Car Times will keep you updated on the Orlando developments.




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