Explaining the Chinese Car Industry and Chinese Cars
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The Chevrolet Cruze is set to launch in the USA in late 2009, according to various websites, but it appears that the Cruze maybe closer to a launch in China from these pictures:
From what China Car Times understands, the Chevrolet Cruze will be fitted with a 1.6l and a 1.8l engine, which will put the Cruze in direct competition with its Buick cousin, the Excelle.
According to the Chinese automotive media, the Buick Regal, aka the Opel Insignia, is to be delayed until the end of year, the original launch date was set to be October, but it appears to have been pushed back by two months to December 2008, the reasoning hasnt been fully explained as of yet though.
Further information was leaked to the Chinese press, presumebly to quench the thirst that the media have whipped up regarding the new Regal, the old Regal being one of the best selling Buicks in China, its no wonder that the Chinese have a whole lot of love for the new Regal. Prices are set to be from 200,000rmb to 250,000rmb, and engines will be turbo assisted, shying away from the GM (over) reliance on V6 engines for their luxury models, a 1.6T will be used that allegedly produce an impressive 180bhp/230nm and also a 2.0TSIDI which gives out 220bhp/350nm.
An interesting car, look out for its possible launch at the Guangzhou Auto Show!
According to GM top dog, Mr. Lutz, the Chevrolet Cruze is expected to enter the Chinese market place in 2009. The Cruze is expected to go on show for the first time at next months Guangzhou Auto show where it will no doubt be well recieved by the Chinese media and GM fans.
China Car Times cant see for sure where the Cruze will fit into the Chinese line up, although we can guess that it will be placed above the Aveo, but below the Chevrolet Epica.
The Epica is reportedly selling around 2000 models per month on average, and the Aveo is also doing very well in the small car segment, it could also mean that the Cruze is set to be another winner for GM China.
The Chevrolet Cruze has also been spotted out testing in the PRC, once or twice.
The last photos we posted regarding the new Buick Regal were heavily camoflauged, making the lines of the Regal hard to see.
The above photos show the Regal looking good in red, although the badging is covered up, you can see the Buick verticle style front grill has been added onto the Insignia. Although engine details have not been released as of yet, we can be sure that it will be pretty similar to the Opel Insignia’s offerings, but probably wont come with any option of a diesel in the PRC.
The new Buick Regal is expected to be launched at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November this year.
The Opel Insignia was unveiled at the 2008 London Auto Show, but CCT readers will know that the car was spotted out testing in the PRC branded as a Buick, as the Insignia seems set to replace the aging Regal.
For Chinese consumers. the Regal was one of the first mass produced Buicks that they could get their hands and money on, and it sold in a vast number until competition in the luxury sedan segment opened up to other players such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes, although the Regal did manage to bring American luxury to China at an affordable price, something that Germans havent quite yet mastered, although with their sales figures already booming, why would they bring their prices down?
With the popular Regal heading off the stage, the Opel Insignia is expected to be rebrande as the new Buick Regal, and as such, Chinese auto fans have been out scouring the streets near GM headquarters to take pictures (above) of the Insigina out testing.
CCT does not have any solid information on when the Buick Regal/Insignia will make a debut, but we can guess that it will make an appearence at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November.
GM have revised their 2008 sales goals for China due to the rising inflation, and rising gas prices which are starting to put Chinese consumers off their automotive dreams.
GM were originally hoping for sales growth of around 15%, but this has now been scaled back to a more reasonable 10-12%, previously in 2007, GM obtained a sales growth of 18%.
GM recently started work on a new R&D center in China, with the cornerstones being layed in formal pomp earlier today.
GM have reportedly poured 2.5 billion USD into the new R&D center, which is located in the New Pudong area of Shanghai. The building, once completed, will house 2500 workers, and 300 of these workers will be directly involved in R&D.
The Chevrolet Cruze has been spotted in China wrapped in the usual GM/SAIC camo. The Cruze was reportedly developed by GM’s international design team and will be sold as an international car, i.e. under different brands in different markets. The Chevy Cruze is expected to replace the aging Daewoo Lacetti in Europe, and we can except the same in China, except the Lacetti is sold under the Buick brand in China, thus the Cruze may well become the Buick Cruze.
The first renderings of the Cruze were shown at a GM Press conference on July 18th, so the time from coming from renderings into a prototype car is extremely fast.
Other websites report that the Cruze will getting a 1.4 Turbo gasoline engine, however from what we have learned so far, the above test mule is a 1.6 Auto model, not quite as interesting as a 1.4 Turbo, but still adequate for the Chinese market place.
This was spotted outside of the Chinese National Department for Automobile Quilty (the people that award sales licenses to car manufacturers). Generally speaking, if a car is spotted outside this building, then chances are it plans to go on sale in China.
Is GM trying to raise Chevrolet from being a bargain bin GM-Daewoo rebranding excercise into a premium brand? We hope so!
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