Honda are planning to launch electric vehicles in Japan and the US market as it plays catch up with other international rivals such as GM and Nissan. Nissan are actively testing their Leaf electric car with the Wuhan government in Dongfeng’s own home town, no actual date has been set for a local launch or production of the Leaf in China as of yet.

Honda are aiming to localize production with locally sourced parts from China rather than relying on expensive Japanese imports, Toyota are also contemplating launching electric cars in China in the short future.

The Chinese Government at the central and even in at some municipal levels have been encouraging the sales of electric cars with large subsidies and also the creation of electric car infrastructure to improve sales of locally built green cars.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Everus sub-brand from Guangzhou Auto and Honda is the companies attempts to target those consumers that are aiming to buy a new car but do not have the funds to pay for a joint venture brand and are looking at Chinese brands, by using mature technology sub brands are able to wrap up solid technology with low prices to take the fight to Chinese companies.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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On the power front the S1 will be home to a 1.3L and a 1.5L with manual and automatic gearboxes on offer, pricing is rumored to start at less than 80,000 which will be a big strike against Chinese manufacturers.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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The hybrid market here in China has been less popular than regional independence talks, but that is not stopping Honda from bringing yet two more hybrids to China. Honda of course already imports the Civic hybrid into China where it was originally priced at 250,000rmb but fell to 160,000rmb to clear the car out of dealerships, Toyota made a bigger mistake by building the Prius in China which came priced at 250,000rmb which was a little car for a lot of money. Now Honda plans to bring the CRZ into China alongside the Insight in 2012 in a bid to make hybrids a little cooler, as it is an import we can expect the CRZ and Insight to be priced high but not too high, circa 300,000rmb seems to be the right guess.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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The joint venture with Dongfeng saw sales of 260,600 units in 2010, a rise of 23.7% whilst the Guangzhou Honda joint venture sold 386,031 units, and gave a sales rise of 5.6%. The Honda CRV became Honda’s hottest model with sales reached 160,000 units in 2010, whilst the Accord actually fell in sales to 171,728 units (a fall of 2.1%) and also Fit sales fell by 31% to 33,575.

For 2011 Honda has set its sales goal at 700,000 units, or 12% higher than 2010.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Pricing is currently unknown, but it is likely to be in the 300,000rmb to 450,000rmb segment and is likely to take on the Toyota Highlander in the Chinese market.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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A top executive at Honda Motor Co (7267.T) said on Thursday the Japanese automaker expects no impact on earnings, including for the current quarter, from a string of labour disputes in China.

Japan’s No.2 automaker has been forced to suspend production on and off at its four Chinese car factories since late May as workers struck its local parts makers demanding higher wages, causing supply disruptions and an output loss of about 20,000 vehicles.

Because earnings made in China are booked one quarter later, the impact of the production loss was expected to put pressure on Honda’s profits in the July-September second quarter of the business year.

But Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Hojo said the disruptions mostly resulted in a fall in inventory and had virtually no impact on profits.

“Our Chinese sales forecast for this year remains the same, at 630,000 units,” he told a small group of reporters.

He said Honda would make up for lost output during the July-September quarter.

While wages in China will rise by more than 10 percent, Hojo said the impact on the company’s earnings was minimal because labour costs accounted for just 2 percent of total manufacturing costs there. That ratio is a 10th of what it is in developing countries, he said.

Hojo said Honda’s sales in China remained strong, rising 6.6 percent to 34,525 cars at local joint venture Guangqi Honda in July, and up 21 percent at 22,163 cars at its other 50-50 venture, Dongfeng Honda.

Honda last week posted its highest-ever quarterly net profit, which includes earnings made in China, as sales grew in almost every market. It also raised its net profit forecast to 455 billion yen ($5.27 billion) for the full year to March 31, 2011, from 350 billion yen

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The SR-9 may look like an Acura TSX with a slightly different nose job, but it was actually designed between Honda and Guangzhou Auto in an effort to make cars that are more suited to local tastes.

The SR-9 will be getting the choice of either a 2.0L or a 2.4L 4cylinder engine when sales begin.

The SR-9 measures (LxWxH) 4730x1840x1450mm with a wheelbase of 2705mm. The regular Accord on the other hand measures 4945 x 1845 x 1480 and has a wheelbase of 2800mm.

Pricing of the SR-9, or a launch date have yet to be announced, but it is expected to hit the market in the second half of this year and will give salary men all over China something else to buy, inevitably in black.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Information on the Honda Fit is thin on the ground, but Paul Tan appears to be quite excited by it.

Rumors of a Honda Civic hatchback produced by Dongfeng-Honda appear to be disappearing, but being replaced by rumors of a Honda Civic sedan in 1.6l guise. Dongfeng Honda are also hoping to sell around 200,000 cars in 2009, a slight increase over fantastic 2008 sales.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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GUANGZHOU Honda Automobile Co Ltd today announced it will set up a wholly-owned research and development subsidiary, paving the way for new models under its own name as early as 2010.

The two-billion-yuan (US$263 million) Guangzhou Honda Automobile Research and Development Co Ltd will build R&D facilities that cover an area of six-million square meters. It will have a full-range of testing equipment, Honda’s Chinese venture said in a statement today.

Japan’s second-largest car maker along with its Chinese partner Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group plan to make the subsidiary to share responsibility for rolling out self-designed models under an original brand that differs from existing Honda models, the statement added.

It would be the first time for a joint venture of an overseas car maker to develop models under its own brand in China, where car makers aim to boost sales by meeting more local demands in the world’s second largest auto market.

Guangzhou Honda also produces Accord sedans, Fit compact cars, Odyssey multi purpose vehicles and City economy cars in China.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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HONDA Motor Corp yesterday announced that sales of its Chinese venture, which makes vehicles exclusively for export, achieved 50,000 units, according to a company statement.

The Honda Automobile (China) Co Ltd, formed by the Japan’s second-largest car maker, Guangzhou Automobile Industry Co and Hong Kong-listed Dongfeng Motor Group Co, is the nation’s only venture for making vehicles that solely target overseas markets.

The company, located in Guangzhou with a registered capital of US$82 million, made 24,600 Jazz compacts last year after the venture kicked off production in 2005. Daily production reached 200 units in full capacity, the company said.

It plans to lift the production by 71 percent to reach 42,000 units this year, exporting to 10 overseas markets including German and Britain. Honda has two other ventures in China making vehicles for the domestic market.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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HONDA Motor Co, Japan’s second-largest carmaker, sold 45 percent more vehicles in China last month, helped by demand for Accord sedans.

Honda sold 25,344 vehicles through its two joint ventures on the Chinese mainland in February, the company said in a statement yesterday, Bloomberg reported. The automaker sold 56,368 vehicles in the first two months, 50 percent more than a year earlier.

Honda is trying to improve quality to expand its foothold in the world’s second-largest auto market. The Tokyo-based company said last week that it will recall 528,406 vehicles including Accord sedans, Odyssey multipurpose vehicles and Fit compact cars.

Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co, a joint venture with Denway Motors Ltd, sold 19,329 cars in February, 26 percent more than a year earlier.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Usually before Chinese New Year every Chinese person at least here in China goes nuts trying to make as much money as they can, pretty much the same with Christmas in the west – those gifts don’t come for free after all. When I say every person, I also mean every company as well, including Guangzhou Honda and Chery. Chery and Honda are about to engage in a price war with each other, Chery have massacred the $5,000USD Chery QQ6 price tag by $500USD and Honda followed suit with a price cut, although it is unspecified at the moment by how much. But the Honda Fit (The Fit is called ‘Jazz’ in other countries), one of the Chery QQ’s main rivals, is almost 100,000RMB. Who would want to pay twice the amount when you could have a brand new QQ6 for 40,000RMB?

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Have to say, Zhong Hua’s cars are looking great – it must be the BMW input!

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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