All the news of the Chinese Car Industry

Review Category : Chinese Car News

Is the New Jetta Heading to the Taxi Market?

The New VW Jetta has been out on Chinese roads for a few weeks now along with the New Santana which look virtually indistinguishable from each other and look fairly similar to the larger Bora and Lavida, the only real differences being the FAW-VW and SH-VW badging on the rear of the car. Autohome.com.cn are running with spy pictures of a ‘poverty specification’…

Read More →

2013 RAV4 Wheeled Out For China

The Toyota RAV4 was finally put into local production in 2009 in the Chinese market for the first time, previously it was only available as an imported vehicle but that was no problem as many local manufacturers moved into position to produce their own RAV4 style (or often based!) models that cost a third of the price and lasted only a third the length…

Read More →

Jeep Cherokee To Become Zi You Guang in the Chinese Market

The name for the Chinese market Jeep Cherokee has been leaked via the Chinese media according to reports aired earlier today, rather than wearing the traditional Jeep Cherokee name the Chinese name has become Zi You Guang which means something along the lines of Total Freedom – a strong name for a company that has focused its entirety on being a go…

Read More →

Ford Launches New Mondeo In China

Ford’s new Mondeo launched in China late yesterday evening with much fanfare from the Chinese automotive media. Ford’s new Mondeo has become a flagship for the Blue Oval in the Chinese market and comes at a night when Ford are placing more impoteus on the Chinese market to boost growth outside of the EU market.

Marin Burela, President and CEO of…

Read More →

Guangzhou-Honda’s Concept C Sedan Sighted Yet Again

The Concept C sedan was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show last year and is in an interesting position, its not quite Accord sized and not quite Civic sized. The ‘C’ is being developed in cooperation with Guangzhou Auto to take on the popular compact sedan segment in China where the Honda Civic, made by Dongfeng-Honda, is already a popular choice.

Read More →

Chevrolet Beat: The Compact Car Revolution

India and China share a similar length of history, similar religions and similar development goals, but our roads are different. Not different in that India drives on one side and China on the other, different in the fact that two markets seem to receive two very different types of car. In the Chinese market the Beat, or rather the Spark, as it is known,…

Read More →

Seeking: Operation Manufacturing Director and Sr. Manager Communications in China

Looking for a job? The China Car Times Career Center is officially open for business. If you want your resume in the system please register here, headhunters and corporations will be given access to your details on request. HR Agencies, headhunters and internal HR Departments are welcome to use the CCT Career Center to post their China/Automotive focused…

Read More →

BAIC’s E-Series sedan seen testing

BAIC’s E-series hatchback launched last year signaled Beijing Auto’s ambitions to start selling cars under their own brand. It has seen modest sales numbers so far, but a sedan version is very close to hitting the market.

The sedan follows the same basic design of the hatchback, which some say closely resembles styling from BAIC’s partner Mercedes-Benz….

Read More →

Johnson Selling Electronics Arm, Chinese Thought to be in the Bidding

Johnson is about to part with its electronics arm according to a terse press release issued earlier today, the unit itself is no small cookie and brings in over 1 billion per year for Johnson and has over a 1000 engineers within its organization.

The Motley Fool is speculating that the Chinese manufacturers and parts companies maybe interested in…

Read More →

Chang-an’s XT Hatch Has a 150bhp Turbo, a Manual Gearbox and Potentially Low Price

The Chang’an XT is quickly becoming the car the MG5 could have been, and shows the strong design rise that Chang’an have had in the past few years. The former truck manufacturer hit a high point with the introduction of some strong models in recent months, especially with the introduction of the Eado sedan and then the larger Raeton sedan. This new…

Read More →

Chinese cars set to gain traction in international markets

The words ‘made in China’ are almost a given these days as the country has become synonymous, and hugely successful, with manufacturing.  Why, then, is it a surprise when Chinese cars are released onto the fiercely competitive motoring market?  The truth is that Chinese cars are actually rather good.  So much so that they’re set to gain impressive…

Read More →

The Next Big Thing in China: Independent Auto Repair Shops

As anyone who has lived in China and bought a car from new in the PRC knows, Chinese dealerships charge an absolute fortune for simple repair services. How much does it cost to change 4 spark plugs on a 2007 VW Passat at a VW dealerships? 1200RMB (192USD) according to one of my friends who is lamenting having to pay so much. The problem is that dealerships…

Read More →

Guangzhou Honda’s Concept C Sedan Road Testing

The Honda Concept C aired at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2012 and was set to give China a peak preview of what a future Honda developed specifically for the Chinese market might look like for the Chinese market.

The…

Read More →

As Predicted, Toyota February Sales Tumble 45.7%

The Chinese New Year dates have again played havoc with sales statistics. Chinese New Year goes by the lunar calendar and as such rebounds between January and February each year, last year CNY fell in January so January 2013 sales were at an all time high. This year CNY fell in February which means sales are going to be down considerably as the country…

Read More →

Cadillac XTS To Launch Tonight, Pricing Expected to be 380,000RMB to 600,000RMB

Cadillac will launch their flagship XTS model tonight and hope to go head to head with the Audi A6L in the Chinese market. The new XTS has been much awaited by the Chinese press whom have reported on the new model considerably over the past 8 months since its launch in the USA, the XTS will first be imported into the Chinese market and then see production…

Read More →

ZX Auto’s TUV Confuses Itself With a Ford Raptor

ZX Auto have proven themselves on the battle field as part of Libya’s unofficial cavalry, we even had a review of one ZX Auto by a Libyan user who took part in the Civil War to rout Gadaffi from his thrown. Chinese media were told to scale back their reporting on the role of ZX Auto in the Libyan civil war which didn’t give ZX Auto the big boost it…

Read More →

And We’re Back!

Did you miss China Car Times through the Chinese New Year Celebrations? We did. The initial plan was to take the site off line for a day or two to update the site design with a new one but we hit upon a few issues. Firstly the server kept filling up due to a lack of caching software (so many var/tmp errors) but we didn’t realize this until too late,…

Read More →

Brilliance H120 Pops Up in Shenyang

Over the past few years we have seen a change in direction with Chinese manufacturers, for a time it seemed that they were in a continual race to the bottom with ever cheaper cars, see the BYD F0 and Cherry QQ series for strong examples. Cheap cars don’t provide too much in terms of profit, but they do provide volume. If BYD and Chery didn’t have vehicles…

Read More →

Fiat Launches in Korea

Korea is a tough market for imported brands, but Fiat is more than up to the task. The Korean market, as you would expect, is dominated by local players such as Hyundai and Kia as well as GM’s local arm, and to a lesser extent Ssangyong. Japanese manufacturers have tried to tap the market but Korean’s remain loyal to local brands, Fiat is hoping to…

Read More →

Freelander To Be Made in China, Use Chery 2.0T Engine and Have 7 Seats

The Chinese media are pushing around various stories regarding the forthcoming third generation of Land Rover Freelander. The Freelander is expected to be one of the first vehicles to be made in China under the new joint venture arangement between Chery and JLR, the two companies are expected to carry out considerable amounts of R&D together to…

Read More →

How I am Surviving the Great Smog-oloypse of 2013

Opening the curtains in the morning to check on the days weather has become a fruitless task, the weather largely stays the same: “Gray, with a hint of gray” This is not smog central Beijing, this is Qingdao – reportedly one of the cleanest cities in China and a long time member of the “Top Ten Most Livable Chinese Cities” lists that come out…

Read More →

What Happened to the Proposed Volvo China Boom?

In 2010 Geely acquired Volvo, and then in 2012 the government announced it would buy more locally made cars rather than Audis. It was largely thought that Volvo, as a Chinese owned company, would get a major leg up in the 2012 sales market, but the opposite has happened, sales fell.

Ford established its joint venture with Chang’an Automobile…

Read More →

Let’s Take a Look at Beijing Auto’s “Wrangler”

Beijing Auto’s B40 SUV has been spotted out many times, it was initially expected to launch towards the end of 2011 but was effectively delayed until the the launch of the company’s own Shen Bao brand late last month at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Shen Bao will be housing an entirely new range of vehicles all of which are thought to be launching within…

Read More →

Here’s your New Taxi – The 2013 Volkswagen Santana

The Guangzhou Auto Show gave us a chance to get up close with the new Santana. Volkswagen is using its tried and tested “Same sausage, different lengths” throughout its China models, from the Passat (US Passat) to the Magotan (Euro Passat) to the Sagitar (US Jetta) to the New Bora (China Bora), to the VW Lavida (China only) to the all new Jetta…

Read More →

We’re at the Guangzhou Auto Show

Expect major updates from tomorrow onwards.

What we’ve seen so far:

  • Very sweaty people – Why did the organizers choose not to turn on the AC on the first day? So many sweaty executives, PR people and journalists.
  • Taxi drivers complaining its cold – It’s 25 degrees in Guangzhou. Hot for the swarms of media that came in from…
    Read More →

Lavida Hatchback Dressed Up As a Skoda For Road Testing

It seems that when joint venture companies are left to their own devices to design, develop and produce cars for the Chinese market sales volume is sure to be had with a product that is able to capture the admiration and wallet of the local populace. See the VW Lavida for such an example, Wolfsburg apparently provided a platform and power train and…

Read More →

Ford Fiesta Sedan Reveals New Face in Spy Shots

The Ford Fiesta is one of the more popular small cars in China, not quite as popular as the all conquering Chevrolet Sail with over 23,000 cars sold, in comparison the Fiesta hatch sold 2246 and the sedan version sold 1078 units, but these are different priced cars with the Fiesta sitting at the higher side of the market and the Sail at the lower end….

Read More →

VW Jetta GLI Readying for Production

FAW-VW’s GLI has been spied plenty of times in China, but is it any nearer production? The Chinese media seem to think it is on the verge of rolling down the Jetta production line complete with indpendent rear suspension and of course the much required 2.0T engine that is shared with the Golf GTI, which FAW-VW also make.

Read More →

Chinese Testing Driverless Vehicles on Beijing – Tianjin Route

From Xinhua:

Chinese unmanned automobiles will embark on a test drive from Beijing to its neighboring city of Tianjin next year, covering a linear distance of some 120 km, according to the National Natural Science Foundation.

Without an onboard human presence,…

Read More →

Classic Ford Focus To Receive Dual Clutch and 1.5L engine.

Two generations of Ford Focus’ are on the market today in China, the newer Focus is aimed at those that want the latest toys and design, the older one has been named the Classic Focus and is aimed at those that want solid reliability for a model that’s been on the market for the past 5 years or so.

The Classic came with a 4speed autobox or a 5 speed…

Read More →

Chinese Back Out Deal, A123 Goes Bankrupt

From Chicago Tribune:

Government-backed battery maker A123 Systems Inc. backed out of a deal Tuesday that would cede control of the company to a Chinese firm in the wake of mounting political pressure from…

Read More →

And Comments Are Back!

Our traffic keeps growing and growing, mostly because you guys keep reading us on a daily basis. For a while we were knocking over 4000 comments per day, although they were mostly spam :(

That amount of comment traffic tripped over the CCT server on a near daily basis, it was a pain in the rear to have to log in to the server every couple of hours…

Read More →

Qoros Still Road Testing, Still Set For March Launch

Qoros are still on with their plans to become a major player in the auto industry, the Israeli-Chinese JV are still on track with their plans to launch their first model in March next year. The company has set up its HQ in downtown Shanghai and also has a joint production facility in Changshu, 100km from Shanghai, in partnership with Chery.

The…

Read More →

What?! No Comments?! and Happy Holidays!

CCT has had to close its comments section for a short while. The amount of spam comments we were receiving on a daily basis was more than enough to cripple the server and it bring it down for hours at a time, last week we were receiving over 2000 spam comments per day, throw in the traffic generated from GizChina and were cracking somewhere between…

Read More →

SAIC-GM-Wuling Cracks 1 Millionth Sale in China

Wuling continues to be a world beating car, in the first 9 months of the year Wuling has managed to sell 1 million vehicles in the Chinese market. In the 244 days from January to Sept, Wuling sold an average of 3,500 vehicles every day, which was up 15.2 percent from the same period in 2011. Domestic sales of its Wuling mini-commercial vehicles this…

Read More →

Japanese Automotive and none Automotive Business Closing For Breaks

Today is the 81st anniversary of the Mukden Incident, when Japan invaded China and started a chain of events that passed through the Nanjing Massacre to modern day squabbling over island territories. Over the past 4 days we’ve seen a range of protests from throwing eggs, bottles and rocks at Japanese consulates and embassies and destroying of Chinese-owned…

Read More →

“Brakes are your enemy” Sorry for the lack of updates!

At the weekend I was at Dalian’s finest mountain bike park with GizChina.com‘s editor, Andi Sykes. We spent Saturday flying around, taking the cable car to the top and doing it all over again, we did 21 runs on Saturday alone. From the cable car we had a great…

Read More →

Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann Takes The Reigns at VW Group China

Professor. Dr. Jochem Heizmann will be taking the reigns at Volkswagen Group China from September 1st and will take over management and oversight of VW’s joint ventures and independent brands in the Chinese market.

Prof. Dr. Heizmann will bring a wealth of executive, strategic and industrial engineering and production planning in his 30-year serve…

Read More →

Green Porsche Panamera Spotted in Qingdao

Qingdao, the so called Green Island City, is actually a peninsula. Trapped in this peninsula is a rather green Porsche Panamera that is living upto its home town name. Qingdao is also the home to Tsingtao Beer, famed for its green beer bottles which is exactly what this Panamera looks like.

In the good old PRC the Panamera weighs in…

Read More →

Rumor Mill: VW Phaeton to See Chinese Production in 2015

According to Chinese media reports at Auto.163.com, Volkswagen are planning to put their flagship Phaeton into production at Shanghai Volkswagen in 2015. The two joint venture partners currently produce a range of VW branded vehicles, but most are low to mid range priced vehicles.

Auto.163 are citing VW’s new DSG gearbox factory in Tianjin as the…

Read More →

Spyker and Youngman Return to Make New JV Focusing on Premium Cars

Youngman and Spyker, once famed for their attempted take over of Saab, have returned to the negotiating table and announced the formation of a new joint venture. In 2011 Youngman received the rights to the Phoenix platform as part of its aborted take over of Saab, the new platform was apparently developed independently of GM and as such Youngman were…

Read More →

FAW Stocks Slide As It Reveals Govt Support

On August 15th a series of rumors emerged from Shanghai media circles, FAW had apparently managed to rope in the local government in its home town of Changchun into offering subsidies for Besturn branded vehicles bought and sold in the city, Changchun apparently agreed with every Besturn B50 being given 5000RMB, B70 6000RMB and the B90/SUV models 7000RMB,…

Read More →