Comments for China Car Times - China Auto News

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Mano

Mano — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Really….why are you on this website? Ash…did the chinese gov force this guy on you or something? After reading his articles I have never encountered a motoring journalist here that is so misinformed.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Panda

Panda — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:16:48 +0000

I’d like to add I’m Chinese and found Chinese Stig hilarious. If you found it offensive you clearly have no sense of humour. Either that or the government took it away from you.

Comment on Chinese Second Hand Auto Market Sees 42 million cars change hands in 2011 by dragin

dragin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:39:16 +0000

Will China stay ahead of the demand for skilled people qualified to fix em all?

Comment on GM January 2011 Sales Down 8% on Year on year sales but up Month to Month by Gong Zai Yan

Gong Zai Yan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:16:49 +0000

January has too many holidays, so that this sale means nothing.

Comment on Automotive Sales Growth Expected to exceed 10% in Second and Third Tier Cities in 2012 by Bob

Bob — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +0000

I am still waiting to see the first Geely SUV on the road. Same for their MPV. Of course some would argue that the Volvo SUV counts. But adding a Gleagle or Emgrand SUV would be good.

Comment on BYD S6 to gain dual clutch gearbox in 2012 by Bob

Bob — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:42:36 +0000

This car is bringing BYD back up the sales charts. I see it all over the place.
Most likely it will get a makeover and more of it’s own design language. Similar to the F3. Of course the make over will not come now, while sales are still rising fast.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Ash

Ash — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:32:14 +0000

Thanks for the criticism Manny. Your comments are always welcome.

Comment on Range Rover Evoque launches in China, priced to win by Gerald

Gerald — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:23:54 +0000

I saw one of these on the drive home from work yesterday – it looks really good (it makes the Q5 look dated, to say nothing of the X3) but boy is it small.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Gerald

Gerald — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:22:17 +0000

I watched the special, it was quite entertaining and they were a lot “nicer” in their criticisms than I expected them to be.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Analyst

Analyst — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:44:02 +0000

It could’ve been a lot worse. Jeremy Clarkson’s bashed much better cars, regardless of their country of origin, including British ones.

In 2004 Clarkson and May set out to find a good car made in the Pacific Rim (ie: South Korea and Malaysia) and in the end they said none of them were any good.

More recently, JC absolutely destroyed the Perodua Kelisa. It was so bad that it apparently got the whole country of Malaysia riled up.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by MannyZ

MannyZ — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:17:32 +0000

So, one would think that after 10 years in China you get to be like Chinese, you know, humble.

Comment on Why Chinese automakers are setting up shop in Brazil by BrunoBR

BrunoBR — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:36:47 +0000

They’re selling the car with 210% of difference because the brazilian tax.
The chinese cars are selling in Brazil cause they have: ABS, Airbags, AC etc and competes in price with the “Brazil made” cars (VW, Chevrolet, Fiat).
Chinese cars are even cheap than the Brazilian cars.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by dragin

dragin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:27:42 +0000

Still patronizing after all these years….

Comment on Excelle the best selling car in China? Yes, and mostly no. by Gong Zai Yan

Gong Zai Yan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:58:32 +0000

Excluding XT and GT, old Excelle is still the no.1.

Comment on Rolls Royce sells out of Dragon Special Edition models by sharife

sharife — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:50:22 +0000

They are made in Chichester not Crewe, Bentley Motors come from Crewe….

Comment on State Owned Manufacturers Are The Problem by Shanghai61

Shanghai61 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:44:24 +0000

It should happen, but it probably won’t …

The car industry is seen as a strategic industry for China. Because of this, the Government will keep its SOE holdings intact. They allowed in the international makers in order for the local industry to learn and modernise, then take over.

This model worked in the internet industry, which is viewed as equally important in terms of strategic control, and where local ‘clones’ of (banned) major global players hold the dominant shares in all the key areas.

But it hasn’t worked in the auto industry, where the international brands not only hold the lion’s share, but are actually still growing their total share at the expense of the local brands.

It’s probably not going to work in the long-term either, unless the SOEs can invest in their own R&D and start to produce competitive cars, rather than relying on re-skinned ‘discount’ versions of old JV platforms.

What the Government plan (coming from a mindset of central planning and controlled markets) doesn’t take into account is that the customer has a choice, and votes with their wallets. The customer sees international brands as offering higher quality, safety, technology, and hence being better value for money than the local ‘clones’. What the Ministry wants to happen and what the car buyer wants to drive are two different things.

Comment on Rolls Royce sells out of Dragon Special Edition models by Ash

Ash — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:03:15 +0000

Hello – this article was by Bloomberg, not China Car Times.

Comment on State of the Nation: Where does the Chinese Car Industry really stand? by Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:41:01 +0000

Management is the biggest issue
The Management of the Chinese car companies is not competitive. They have no idea about cars, manufacturing nor their business model.
The biggest constrain is the first level management but the higher ranks are not that much better.
In China it is a big shame to work with your hands. So as soon as someone got a small idea of the things, he will try to rank up. The bosses usually do not care what’s going on in their shop floors. They are unable to ask why problems occur and usually blame others. There are only very little action plans. The strategies existing only on the paper. Things just happens.
For car manufacturing you can buy everything you need. There is no reason why Benz is better than BAIC but the knowledge how to puzzle everything together. Mr. Cox wrote that AVL and Ricardo develop the cars. The point is that you need to give them the right orders. If you spend little money and give pure input you get Chinese cars without any chance of success.
That leads me to the next awful thing. The Marketing. For most cars you see the prototypes and have a look for their package and everybody with a little sense of the market could understand, this car won’t have any success. The top management of the Chinese Car makers lack this sense.
It is easy to continue with the bad things about Chinese car industry. There must be reasons why it is as it is. The only good thing is the wish to catch up. For this the major change needed is better management on all levels.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Ash

Ash — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:37:21 +0000

No, Chinese are famous for their Kung Fu ability, they are just highlighting it in a British way. The same way Chinese towns build ‘English Towns’ on the outskirts of Shanghai.

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by perry

perry — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:21:20 +0000

That is not Stig. That is Stig’s Chinese cousin.

well, they are being nice to Chinese. There isn’t much rubbish and the ending sort of give me a warm feeling and looking forward to the future of China.

Comment on Rolls Royce sells out of Dragon Special Edition models by Northern Light

Northern Light — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:04:34 +0000

Rolls Royce are London based? Really? Founded in Manchester, made in Crewe, where does London come into this? Very poor and lazy with absolutely no evidence of research done. You need an editor!

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Gong Zai Yan

Gong Zai Yan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:41:54 +0000

The Stig means that Westerners think Chinese guys are crazy and stupid? I dont like this role.

Comment on The ‘Ford F150′ from JAC by David R. Filbey-Haywood

David R. Filbey-Haywood — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:38:34 +0000

I guess there are legitimate copies and then there are this kind of thing. I love seeing the Roewe 750 running around Shenzhen. Most people don’t know what it is

Comment on Phoenix, aka Shanghai, back from the dead by Mark

Mark — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:56:31 +0000

If you ask me, the Shanghai name would carry more weight in the UK and probably Europe, than the fabricated Roewe name.

Shanghai holds a fond image for the British and there were leagues of expats there at one time.
It is referred to as the Paris of the East and I think it’s air of mystery and possibility is perfect to carry the feeling of a luxury aspiring auto brand.

Shanghai means a lot. Roewe means nothing.

I could buy a Shanghai and be proud of its Chinese roots.

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Comment on Phoenix, aka Shanghai, back from the dead by Analyst

Analyst — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:42:02 +0000

Wow, yet another brand in China.

” Sometimes, it feels as if it is the long-term goal to give each and every of the 1.3 billion Chinese his or her individual car brand.”

- Bertel Schmitt

Comment on Watch the UK’s Top Gear talk Chinese cars by Martin

Martin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:06:21 +0000

Chinese Stig was a hoot.

Comment on Why Chinese automakers are setting up shop in Brazil by Analyst

Analyst — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:09:49 +0000

In the US, sales taxes and other vehicle purchase fees vary depending on the state you are buying the car, its size, whether or not it’s a “green” vehicle, etc.

To factor in everything would complicate things a lot, so I thought it would be easier to just focus on the MSRP. But usually these taxes add up to no more than 10% of the vehicle’s MSRP.

I am going into more detail on import taxes in the next article.

Comment on Another Look at the JAC 4R3 Cloned F150 by Geoff McPherson

Geoff McPherson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:46:58 +0000

It is said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. Too bad the Chinese elevate flattery to a form of Grand larceny. This is but the tip of the counterfeit iceberg. I hear that they’re making Beefeater costumes and Double Decker London buses to sell to South American, South African and Australian markets.

Comment on Why Chinese automakers are setting up shop in Brazil by Ash

Ash — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:16:40 +0000

How much is import tax and sales tax on top of imported cars for the BZ market?

Comment on Why Chinese automakers are setting up shop in Brazil by Alexandre

Alexandre — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:43:21 +0000

I’m a brazilian, and would like to point out to you that you cannot make this price comparisons between prices in Brazil and US or China without taking into account the outrageous sales tax(not called exactly that here, but sales tax in practice) in Brazil. Depending on model, up to 50% of the sales price is tax only, distorting every comparison. I agree on everything else you said, but suggest that you revise the price comparisons.

Comment on Are Youngman the best bet for Saab? by robin yates

robin yates — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:37:18 +0000

Saab are different to other cars. I love them,it would be a tragedy if they went under while crap manufacturers remain in business

Comment on Another Look at the JAC 4R3 Cloned F150 by robin yates

robin yates — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:42:52 +0000

I think the time has come for China to design their own look for new vehicles. We don’t want to upset the Americans do we ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA loud laughter

Comment on Aston Martin Details Dragon88 models ahead of Beijing Auto Show by robin yates

robin yates — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:32:38 +0000

what an absolutely superb marketing idea, these 88 cars will be gone the first day of the motor show

Comment on Next generation Roewe 750 naked at last by vava1

vava1 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:40:16 +0000

Interesting. I wonder if there will be an MG9 version as a flagship for the exported MG brand?

The new naming system suggests we will see R75, R55, R35 and maybe R25 and R15 nomenclature for the rest of the range