Last year I wrote about how HuaTai managed to copy not just one but two famous international logos and feature them on a billboard at the Beijing Airport. Continuing their copy excellence Huatai managed to out do themselves this year.
First it appears that they have transferred their embarrassing BMW +
Microsoft logo to their engine company subsidiary. OED Engines is now the proud bearer of this blatant trademark infringement.
Then perhaps in an effort to hide from the fame created by their initial
logo they changed their English company name to Hawtai which …

The Roewe N1 concept car was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show this week, it drew in the crowds to the rather large SAIC stand, but it was greatly out done by the fantastic MG6.
You see, the W2 concept car (which later became the Roewe 550) was a new begining, but an extension of Rover (and therefore British) motoring heritage. The design was a radical change from the Rovers of the MG-R age, and showed a new direction, the MG6 continues with that new direction and will give MG …

When I was a child my dad returned home from a trip to China with a fake Rolex which he gave me as a birthday present. I was amazed at how close it looked to his real Rolex. Naively I asked if the Chinese can copy a Rolex, why don’t they copy the Rolls Royce? My father assured me that it would be much more difficult to steal the design for a Rolls Royce and actually manufacture the car. He was wrong.
At the Auto Shanghai 2009 Geely launched the Geely …

The Zotye brand has been without a clear logo or branding since its conception several years. Zotye started with the Daihatsu Tarios, which they renamed the ‘Zotye’ and then became the 2008, and then the 5008. It’s the latest 5008 model that they’ve put on show in Shanghai, complete with a rather odd logo, and a CVT gearbox that is from Nissan, or so we hear:

So far so good:
The MG6 is EXCELLENT
The Roewe N1 does nothing for me.
The SouEast Lancer is…. a let down.
Changfeng stand is interesting.
Geely stand is a maze.
Chery stands are split between Chery EV, Riich, Rely, and then Karry off in a another stand.
It’s raining too much
The traffic is terrible
On the upside:
Many pretty girls
Vanilla Coke – Why doesnt northern China get this?
Burger King!
Sorry for the lack of updates, many an updates in a few hours!

Along with the 2009 Auto Shanghai exhibition comes a number of different conferences, all providing crucial value to the Chinese Auto Industry. While the economic slowdown evidently caused China Auto News to cancel their annual conference, the automotive industry consulting group China Business Update hosted the 2009 Presidents Forum which was strong and well attended.
This year’s conference is entitled New Energy, Fuel Efficient and Green
Vehicles: Global Development and China’s Opportunities, providing a valuable opportunity for industry experts to gather and exchange views.
The CBU conference featured speakers from almost every major …

The Shanghai Auto Show is on the verge of opening, and with other 60 new cars being set to launch, just what can you see at the greatest car show on earth?! Well, the answer can be found below, as CCT as rather kindly compiled the information for you:
Changfeng:
Concept Car
CP2
To continue reading what will get launched in Shanghai, click continue reading!

With the Shanghai Auto Show bearing down upon us like a run away steam train, we have to wonder what MG have in store for us. Perhaps a new MG6, either this one or this one, or perhaps a new MG3?
Their cars were pretty well covered up ahead of the show, but what is that large sedan? Perhaps they are bringing back the ZT, aka the MG7 sports. But what is on the top of the truck to the left hand side that has a rapidly sloping back end? Another …

From The Telegraph:
“China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. The Chinese are buying raw materials because it is a much better way to use their $1.9 trillion of reserves. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure for 50 years.”
“The next industrial revolution is going to be led by hybrid cars, and that needs copper. You can see the subtle way that China is moving into 30 or 40 countries with resources,” he said.

From China Auto Info, a new China auto blog, possibly better than CCT:
A compact battery-operated sedan by Chinese-based BYD Auto has sold only 80 units since its launch last December and may be running into quality control problems with its batteries.
According to Auto Biz Review, 20 of the vehicles, named F3DM, were purchased by the Shenzhen government, with the remainder in use by China Construction Bank’s Shenzhen branch. BYD Auto president Wang Chuanfu said that such group users were targeted in F3DM’s …

The Telegraph leads with a scary headline today, ‘SAIC makes approach for Vauxhall‘ it might be a scary headline to those that worked for MG-Rover which SAIC took over via the backdoor once MG-R was bankrupt and no longer in need of a partner, but someone to buy its assets. To everyone else though, it looks like a little bit of window shopping by the Chinese auto giant, who are eager to take on new technology so they may rise from the ashes with a strong brand to take on …

Chang’an have got a new prototype ready for the Shanghai show,  Chang’an have shown fantastic prototypes before now, but they’ve yet to make it to production:
The concept SUV has been codenamed e301, but other information on the SUV concept have yet to be announced.
Chang’an also plan to launch the new Landwind X9, updated Mazda2, Suzuki Swift sedan, and new minivans from the Chang’an. Chang’an also plans have to launch hybrid and other environmentally friendly vehicles at the Shanghai Show.

The miniture Smart fortwo has hit the market at long last in China, priced from 150,800rmb to a whopping 200,600rmb (thats 16,000Euro to 23,000Euro), which makes it a smart purchase only for the rich.
The Smart car range has actually been available in China for quite some time, albeit through gray market channels. Also the Smart car has found itself with many clones of itself here in China, clones that cost as little as 5,000Euros from the dealer, yes, we’re thinking of the Little Nobel
The Smart car will find itself a …

Chrysler currently only make the Chrysler Sebring in China, as well as the Chrsyler Voyager MPV. The rest of their line up, such as the Dodge and Jeep models are imported into China:

Apr. 6, 2009 (China Knowledge) – Chrysler LLC said it has no plan to quit the Chinese market and it will join the upcoming Auto Shanghai 2009 late April despite the great pressure it is facing in the U.S., sources reported.
The crisis in the North American auto market has somewhat affected Chrysler’s global strategy, said a spokesman for …

Lets make things clear, I’ve never been a big fan of modern French cars, but Citroen seem to have gone down the path of sensible, classical, French design that we all know. Peugeot on the other hand, are a special case.
Just about every Citroen car in China is rather pallatable, the Citroen C5 is a little plain, but the C2 looks like a fun motor, the Chinese C4 does, the C-Triomphe is a much better looker than the C5. Now the Citroen line up is set to get the …

GoNow are a small truck maker based in Zhejiang province, they arent a huge automaker, but they do relatively well with their pick up range in their geographical area. GoNow also make a couple of SUV’s, none of them totally remarkable, but this upcoming SUV is rather interesting:
The front end of the SUV is similar to the Audi Q7, and the side is similar to the Kia Sorrento.
Want one? Buy one here!

Geely is undergoing a major restructuring process in 2009 to make it into a more of an international company, and thus taking it away from its roots as a small regional player.
The Geely GC-1, which was recently spotted out testing on the highway, is expected to be at the forefront of Geelys new high end branding, the actual brands name has yet to be anounced, but a logo has been set aside for the brand. The Chinese press commented that the rear end of the GC-1 shown looks rather …

So says Bloomberg:
March 25 (Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co. may get $1 billion to $2 billion for its Volvo Cars unit, less than a third of what it paid 10 years ago, as it conducts sale talks with more than three bidders, a person familiar with the discussions said.
Shedding the Swedish automaker, the last piece of Ford’s failed strategy to boost profit with European luxury brands, may take six months to complete, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The person wouldn’t …

Brilliance are reportedly working on two new engines, and two new platforms. The first platform will be for the B Segment and will carry 1.8l and 2.0L engines. The two engines are expected to be naturally aspirated, but 1.8T and 2.0T turbos are expected to come along as well. An A segment platform is also to be deployed which will be able to take a 1.2l to 1.5l VVT engines, which are also likely to be turbo assisted.
Chinese consumers are likely to be buying sub 1.6L cars for the forseable …

There are several companies in China that boast of their ‘sports models’ in their line ups, however, these are mostly sports looking but dont really have the sports credibility especially when they are sporting Mitsubishi engines that were obsolete in the mid 90′s. Then the Brilliance Coupe came along and pretty much showed the Chinese car industry, and the world, that were was at least one company in China trying to take the coupe segment seriously, that company is Brilliance.
Brilliance developed their own 1.8T engine to fit into the …

From the WSJ:
BEIJING — Chery Automobile Co. and Fiat SpA have postponed their plan to begin producing cars this year for the Chinese market because of the global economic downturn, Chery spokesman Jin Yibo said Thursday.
“It definitely won’t happen this year,” Mr. Jin said. No new timeline has been set for the start of production, but the two companies are continuing talks, he said.
The two auto makers signed an agreement for a 50-50 joint venture in August 2007 and had aimed to produce 175,000 cars a year from 2009. The …

Excellent yet brief article:
China’s car makers are increasingly ambitious, as illustrated by plans to grow at home and, in some cases, expand abroad. One big impediment they face in taking on their foreign rivals: design.
Big global companies spend years, and millions of dollars, designing new cars. But many home-grown Chinese auto makers actually do very little of that.
A senior executive of one small auto maker in Hebei recently laid it out for us over a cup of tea: the reason his company can sell cars much cheaper than foreign auto …

The Volvo XC60 mini SUV has been spotted out in China, sporting Chinese temporary plates which usually indicates that imports and sales are not far away.
Volvo also just launched the Volvo S80L, L of course standing for lengthened. The S80L will be packaged with a 3.0L Turbo engine, and will be a main competitor for the BMW 530Li, and the Audi A6L.
The Volvo brand is certainly gaining ground in the PRC as a luxury brand. Currently the S40 is made in China, but the S80 is imported as …

Clearer pictures have finally emerged of the Landwind X8 SUV out testing.
Landwind maybe more famous for their zero star crash test which made Chinese cars the laughing stock of Europe for quite sometime. However, we have heard that Landwind learned a tough lesson from their European adventure, and are planning a re-run at the market with the X8 SUV.
As can be seen from the pictures, the X7 will be powered by a 2.5l engine, from here, and also a 2.8L engine.

This Wednesday, March 18th, will see the launch of Cherys premium brand. The restructure of the Chery brand will see the brand split into different segments, the exact details of which are currently uknown. Its understood that the Karry range of vehicles will be split off into their own sub brand, which will see the addition of a flatbed truck and possibly a pick up truck.
The premium brand will consist of the new Chery A6, which will also be powered by a V6 unit. The V6 engine is Chery’s first …