When the police arrived on the scene, they pulled a drunkern Zhang from his car. Zhang could not stand, his legs were shaking, he could not speak, his hands were shaking, and his eyes were bloodshot. A journalist at the scene reportedly heard Zhang repeatedly crying to himself “Ive become an executioner” Zhang was repentent at the scene and vowed to compensate everyone he hurt, including the families of those he killed. Zhang told the crowd that he hoped that everyone could learn by his mistake, and never drink and drive. After he had finished talking between sobs, the police lead him away in handcuffs.

According to preliminary police investigations, Zhang has been in trouble with the law for his ‘crazy’ driving before, totalling 80 various different violations within 3 years. Zhang received his C1 license in April 2006, and by April 2009 he had a total of 80 driving violations, which included speeding and running red lights.

The large reason that netizens were angry with the crash was due to the media incursion, which showed the police picking up the victims up off the road and dumping them (and their missing organs) into the back of a pick-up truck without first putting them into body bags. A video of the police ‘clean up’ has made it to the video file sharing site, Youku.com

Prior to the accident, Zhang was out drinking with his friends where he drank copious amounts of Chinese White Wine, his blood alcohol level was recorded as being 381ml per decilitre of blood, far above the legal limit of 80mg.

Due to his excessive drinking, Zhang killed 3 people at the scene, including a heavily pregnant woman, 2 more people died in hospital later.

The Chang’an CV5 is based on the current Suzuki Alto platform, and is expected to be put into production at the end of 2009, and be launched in early 2010 with the choice of either 800cc engines, or 1.0l engines.

The Roewe 95 is based on a Ssangyong Chairman, and uses an ex-Mercedes gearbox and engine. Since the Ssangyong bankruptcy, SAIC has been kicked out of the Ssangyong stable, so did the rights to the Roewe 95 get transfered along to SAIC, or did they loose it when Ssangyong went bankrupt? It was very much expected that SAIC would launch the Roewe 95 at the last Shanghai Auto Show, which was at the same time Ssangyong went into bankruptcy protection.

So the question remains, will SAIC put the Roewe 95 into production, or not? Or do the blue and red lights behind the grill mean that this model is a one off for a government VIP?

Fiat and Guangzhou Autos have been getting quite cozy with each other over the past 18 months with various technology trades happening, which has culminated in the latest joint venture. Fiat kept Guangzhou onside by selling them Fiat and Alpha Romeo platforms, on which Guangzhou Auto plan to build their small car range. The deal then lead to the JV being formed.

The new factory is expected to be able to produce 300,000 cars per year and will be producing 4 branded cars at the same time, (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Changfeng, and Guangzhou) The new factory will be located in Changsha city, Hunan province, with work commening in August.

Once a month, an Airbus A320 passenger jet rolls out of an airy hangar on the outskirts of northern port city of Tianjin, China’s window to Western ideas for a century and a half.

Within two years these $72m (£43m) twin-engine jets will be emerging once a week. The number of French, German, British, and Spanish engineers “shadowing” the local work force will be down to a handful.

By then production of identical models of the A320 workhorse will be tapering off slowly at the Airbus sister plants in Hamburg and Toulouse, starting with a cut from 36 to 34 this Autumn.

The Chinese engineers learn fast. This factory kicked off nine months ago, a nano-second in aviation time. It takes longer in Britain to complete the paper-work for planning permission.

“It’s a miracle,” said Lan Xinguo, head of Sichuan Airlines as he took delivery last week of the first Chinese A320 – splendidly adorned in red with dragons – to the sound of the Star Wars film track. “What’s been done is beyond our imagination a few years ago.”

Lawrence Barron, head of Airbus China, said Tianjin jets are geared to voracious demand from local airlines, at least – and here comes the kicker – “in the early years”. There is no reason why an Indian, Australian, or European airline should not buy a Tianjin jet one day.

It is an odd arrangement. The Tianjin plant is a joint venture with China’s Aviation Industry Corp (AVIC), the 430,000-strong speahead of China’s drive to be an aeronautics superpower.

Read the rest here.

Haima have realized that the best way to compete with the QQ is to do exactly what Chery did with the Chevrolet Spark - copy it.

The side profile of the Haima 1 (above) is virtually the same as the Chery QQ, the only difference being the front end where the Haima 1 takes on quad headlamp style lights. Previously this car was known as the Haima M1, but it seems that it has been given the new moniker of Haima 1 for production.

Chang’an Ford were kind enough to lend us a top of the range Mondeo in sports trim over the weekend. We took the Mondeo, and the Ford Fiesta sedan, for a quick blast around the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing. Ford say that the Mondeo is following the kinetic design theory, as with the rest of the current Ford line up. My first thoughts on seeing the Ford Mondeo was sheer bewilderment, surely this is the new Ford Granada, and not the new Mondeo. The previous generation Mondeo was a slender vehicle, the new Mondeo is ten times larger than the USS Regan. You see, the Chinese one is actually 100mm longer than the Euro one (The UK spec sedan measures in at LxWxH 4844mm*1886 *1500) and it only comes in sedan form, so it’s a huge vehicle measuring (LxWxH)4854mm*1886*1495. The Mondeo is clearly aiming at the upper middle class business user in China and will probably find its customers are the ones that want an Audi A6, but can’t afford one. That’s not to say the Mondeo is a poorer alternative. The Mondeo’s interior is very luxurious - the one we received was the 2.3l sports model, complete with a handsome bodykit, this particular model has the Australian Mondeo XR5 styling, but with the naturally aspirated 2.3l engine rather (delivering 160bhp) than the 2.5 Turbo unit the Aussies get. The leather seats are about as comfortable as they come, they envelope the driver into a comfortable position, and the rear seats have more legroom than the first class seats on a China Eastern flight. The central console is dominated by a large screen, which apparently tells you a lot of information, although we didn’t get much time to play with it.

Driving the 2.3L Mondeo is a pleasure. It has go, but it is more of a highway wafter than a performance car. It seems more than happy to sit at 120kph, but the car kept bleeping and telling us not to go much further on this particular stretch of road due to speed cameras, a very clever car indeed. The automatic gearbox hardly had any noticeable gear changes from what we could tell, but even at 110kph it sat at 1500rpm, which makes the Mondeo a great gas saver. Fellow tester, Pete Carter, quickly found out that the Mondeo’s brakes are rather fantastic when a 30m long truck pulled out in front of him, forcing him to apply the Mondeo’s brakes to their maximum. I personally had nothing interesting happen to me on the way back to Ford, other than attempting to pilot the gigantic Ford Mondeo through Beijing rush hour traffic, where it performed very well, cutting through Beijing traffic like a hot knife through cold butter. Pete even managed to sharply turn off the highway when he was at the helm of the Fiesta, possibly trying to loose me on purpose, but the Mondeo managed to keep up with the nimble Fiesta just as well.

For the Mondeo men who are reading, the boot is huge, we found a parcel in the back of ours. We’re not sure who put it there, or if they left it there on purpose to demonstrate how big the boot is, but we were assured that the boot is very big. The sedans rear end styling is the sort where you will either instantly love it, or hate it. Luck would have it that I actually quite like it.

Talking with Ford’s Product Communications Director for the Ford Asia Pacific and Africa regions, Mr. Craig Von Essen, it seems that Ford have no immediate plans to introduce the Mondeo Wagon (a European family staple) into China, it seems that Ford are waiting to see where the market goes before they introduce models from their vast portfolio. But if nobody takes the step to introduce a different car, people won’t get the chance to buy one, and nobody will see where the market is going.

China Car Times Verdict: If you’re a highway warrior or a city slicker looking for comfort in a sedan for the third of the price of a similar German car, then this is the car for you, it’s really worth its price.
Models: 2.0l, 2.3l sedan only. Base model has a manual gearbox, the rest are automatics.
Pricing: From 169,800rmb to 220,980rmb.

Much thanks to Craig, and Wesley at Ford for making this happen, and also to Martin at Automotive APR for checking my spelling.

Updated: Mr. Von Essen’s title.

Shanghai, June 23 (Gasgoo.com) French carmaker Renault is contemplating plans to assemble vehicles in Venezuela starting 2010 in a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors, Automotive News reported.

Renault and Great Wall de Venezuela have signed a non-binding letter of intent to carry out a feasibility study on building cars together for the Venezuelan market, Renault spokesman told the newspaper.

Production would start at a plant currently owned by Great Wall’s local partner, in the Province of Carabobo, 150 Km from the capital Caracas.

This week it has been announced by a GWM insider that they have no such plans for a JV outside of China with Renault:

An overseas marketing vice general manager of Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd.  denied the saying that the Chinese automaker would set up a joint-venture factory with the French auto titan Renault in Venezuela.

Earlier reports said that in mid-June 2009, Great Wall Motor signed a letter of intent with Renault about their joint-venture production in Venezuela.

Both sides would manufacture vehicles in a factory, which belongs to a local partner of the Chinese automaker, they added. The factory, with a designed yearly production capacity of 22,000 vehicles, would produce 15,000 vehicles for Renault and the remaining for Great Wall Motor a year, they continued.

The reports even said that Renault would build Logan, one of its car models, and Sandero, one of its hatchback products, in the factory, with some parts imported from Colombia. The French auto titan has manufactured Logan cars in Colombia for four years.

If the joint-venture plan comes true, the French auto titan would invest USD 10 million and the Chinese automaker would contribute USD 65 million, they predicted.

The vice general manager of the Chinese automaker explained that Renault would not cooperation with Great Wall Motor, but a Venezuela-based dealer of Great Wall Motor.

Its local dealer had planned to build a factory, with an annual production capacity of 22,000 to 25,000 vehicles, to manufacture Great Wall-branded products in the form of knock down (KD), said the vice general manager.

Later, Renault went to the dealer and hoped that the dealer could also assemble Renault-branded vehicles. Both sides signed an agreement, and in the future, both Great Wall-branded and Renault-branded products will be assembled in the factory, he disclosed. But Great Wall Motor itself has had no plan to set up a joint venture with Renault or join hands with it, he stressed.

Notably, in March 2009, Great Wall Motor President Wang Fengying told that the US auto giant Chrysler LLC terminated the cooperation negotiations with her company.

Analysts said that the termination resulted from the tie-up of the US auto giant and Italy’s Fiat. But the Chinese automaker denies the saying, stressing that Chrysler and Fiat had just signed a nonbinding agreement.

The president said that Great Wall Motor would pay the most attention to the development of its proprietary brands, and that it had not contacted any partner yet.

The automaker sold 125,000 vehicles in 2008, including 55,000 ones for export and falling far behind the goal of 200,000 ones. This year, it will release 13 new products and reach the 200,000-vehicle goal.

A reason to pay a visit to Chengdu and to look for the reminiscent of these vehicles. About the Marina I can be short: I didn’t find any Marina, Marina van or pickup in the streets of Chengdu. The old FAW factory is since long closed and demolished. The social unrest in this backward factory had lead in 2003 to a unique demonstration in the Chengdu streets. A good reason for the regime to close the factory and fire the workers. As a result, there is nothing left of the Chinese Marina’s.

The Maestro-line was first sold to a tobacco company in Shandong province, named Etsong (or Yizhong in Chinese). They managed to produce a small series of Maestros and Maestro vans. In 2003 the line was sold again, now to the Yema company in Chengdu. Yema is a very small company with a long history of building strong SUV’s in extremely small quantities, they are specially well fit for the rough roads of South West China.

A visit to a small manufacturer like Yema is not easy. Nobody speaks English, but more importantly: people don’t understand why there is foreign interest in their factory and products. When one tries to make an appointment, there is always the promise to call you back, but they never call you. E-mail is not answered. There is only one solution: just go there.

Yema Auto lies 30 km from Chengdu city centre, in a large industrial area. Not far away arises a new Volkswagen complex. The factory has two divisions: left a bus factory, right the automobile factory. The reception is very friendly, and after two hours phone-calls, taking me from one office to the other, they have decided that I am welcome and that it is the job of the sales department to show me around. After a first look it is obvious that the factory is very clean. But there is one strange thing, when I have a look into the halls. Where are the workers? In the whole factory I counted 10 to 15 men. That is not the
workforce of 750, this is the number I have been told by the friendly girl who is showing me around. In the massive welding hall two men are welding. In the paint hall three men are working.

Two cars seem to be in production: the SQJ 6450N, a 4-seat van which is in fact an updated Maestro van (which also exists as a two-seat van, the SQJ 6450) and the SQJ 6451, a small 4×2 SUV-like car based on the Maestro platform. The body of this car completely resembles the old version of the Subaru Forester. I am allowed to make a small test drive around the factory facilities with the SQJ 6451. The engine sounds strange: a very high-tone noise. It is the
CQ4C15 engine, based on the old 1498 cc Toyota 5A. It is made by Yema’s sister factory in Mianyang, lying in the epicentrum of the big earthquake of May 2008.

OK, they let me walk around and make pictures. Only one strange restriction:I am not allowed to take pictures of cars. A strange wish: how to make photos in a car factory avoiding photographing the cars. In one of the halls we meet two heavier SQJ 6485s, this is a much bigger (Toyota Landcruiser size) 4×4 SUV. It is not clear if the cars are produced here before or that it is the intention to produce them in the near future. Another product is the M72. This was a 2000 concept from Matra of France. Yema is copying this concept, I counted five test models in different stages of production. They are completely hand-made and I was told that they were used to test different alternative engines, like CNG (natural gas, very popular in Chengdu), electrical engines or hybrids. I distinguished two different models. Here I really had no chance to take photos.

The quality of the cars is sad, they are very roughly and cheap built, in nowadays China they are no match for the severe competition. It is disappointing to see a clean and nice factory with a lot of potential, lacking expertise and effective management. The result is: yearly production 100 cars in stead of the production capacity of 10,000 cars.

Yes, the Maestro is stills surviving, but not for much longer…

This was a special report written by Erik van Ingen Schenau
China Motor Vehicle Documentation Centre
www.chinesecars.net

There has been a lot of chatter both from the Chinese national radio, and other media basically saying that the government will move to block any potential purchase of a brand that is seen as being ‘ungreen‘ and ‘anti-environment‘

Both Sichuan Tengzhong and GM bosses were in meetings together last week to formalize a sales plan, and a post sales plan for the Hummer brand. The major obstacle to gaining approval to buy the company is Sichuan Tengzhongs inexperience in the automotive building industry, and also the negativity attached to the Hummer brand.

Although there is a lot of speculation against the Hummer purchase, it is unlikely that China’s regulators will back down and deny the purchase, and CCT is rather looking forward to the day we can buy a domestically made Hummer H3T for sensible money.

The S11 was first unveiled at the Shanghai Auto show earlier this year to an impressed crowd. The car was designed by Shanghai based TJ Innova, the S11 looks fantastic, with Audi and Ferrari design tones slipped into its sleak body, under the platform there is an AWD drivechain pushing power to each corner of the car. From what we hear the S11’s design is completed, and is now at the test stage and will soon be hurtling down the production line in Changchun city, although its not quite clear whose production line they will be using.

China wont get a domestically made EVO but will get a 1.8l and 2.0l engines. The 1.8l produces 177Nm of torque, but power ratings for the 2.0L have not yet been released. The current Lancer made by SouEast is a 1.6l version producing 104bhp, the latest generation Mitsubishi Lancer is an imported model which costs over 200,000rmb. The Chinese made Lancer is expected to cost somewhere in the 150,000rmb range for the 2.0l model, and will be perfect competition to the Ford Focus, and the soon to be released MG6.

This latest facelift for the Hover H3 looks like the best one to date, and goes a long way to softening the harsh looks of the well respected off roader. Greatwall could have another round of success with the Hover H5, especially with city slickers that want the raised height of an SUV but dont want the harsh looks of a boxy off roader.

We hear that the Hover H5 will be available with a 2.0l engine, and will be available from next year onwards.

The updates are largely to the front and rear lighting assemblies, which have made the A5 look more rounded and less harsh than its current boxy guise.

According to our sources, the A5’s structure has been slightly altered as well, with Chery hoping to achieve a minimum of 4 stars in a future C-NCAP crash test.

Chinese automaker BYD Auto sold 144,741 vehicles in the first five months of this year, with F3 leading all BYD models in sales to 96,181 in January to May.

The automaker said that it plans to sell 400,000 vehicles in the full year of 2009. As an effort to fulfill the goal, it will later launch five new models including M6, S8, G3, L3 and S6.

BYD Auto is a subsidiary of BYD, which produces 65 percent of the world’s nickel-cadmium batteries and 30 percent of the world’s lithium-ion mobile phone batteries. BYD purchased Xi’an Qinchuan Automobile Co. in 2003 and started its auto business.

BYD F3 and F6 are its two key car models at present.

Automotive website, PCauto.com.cn reports that the BYD SUV (codenamed S6) will be very well specified to gain consumers interest. Engines for the BYD S6 have not yet been announced, but it is expected that they will get 2.0-2.5l 4 cylinder engines, or possibly even BYD’s hybrid treatment.

We still think the photos look a little funny, but several websites are running with them, like they did with these BYD SUV renderings.

From Reuters:

BEIJING, June 25 (Reuters) - China’s top economic planning agency is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong’s bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors Corp (GM.N) (GMGMQ.PK), state radio reported on Thursday.

The planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is worried that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, which makes special-use vehicles and highway components, does not have the experience and resources to run the Hummer business, the report said.

Besides, Hummer, as an expensive, gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle, would not fit in with the government’s policy of encouraging energy-efficient vehicles, the radio said.

China has a complicated, fragmented system to regulate overseas investments. Many government bodies, including the NDRC, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, are involved.

To further regulate overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms, the NDRC issued an order last Friday requiring Chinese companies to report intended overseas acquisitions to Beijing before they sign any legally binding contracts. [ID:nPEK70599]

The Ministry of Commerce has sounded a more positive note about the proposed deal, saying that the bid is normal behaviour for a company seeking to take advantage of the global downturn.

Thanks to Funf for the tip!

Exact details have not been released yet by Dongfeng, but it appears that the 1.8T engine in question is from the SAIC range, aka the Rover K-Series engine.

Dongfeng have had some success with their fengshen sedan, and also their joyear MPV, perhaps their latest SUV will follow the pack.

The Toyota Highlander was sold in China initially as an imported model, but demand for the vehicle increased enough to warrant Chinese domestic production via the Guangzhou-Toyota joint venture. It seems that the Pilot will also see domestic production, but via the Dongfeng joint venture. Pricing is expected to be more than the current CRV, but slightly lower than the current domestically made Highlander, early estimates suggest that Pilot will retail from a mere 240,000rmb for the base 2.4l 2WD model to 360,000rmb for the 3.5l AWD model.

Image from Wikipedia.

It makes sense for VW to make the GTI in China, as the 2.0TSI that calls the GTI home has been made in China for quite some time, however the Golf GTI has always been an expensive import for Chinese consumers. A Chinese made Golf GTI is expected to be a more reasonable 230,000rmb once launched, when compared to the current import price of over 400,000rmb.

The third generation Pajero retailed for around 300,000rmb to 420,000rmb in China as a CKD, but Changfeng assembled model, could this Changfeng branded model make the price fall at all?

Now that Guangzhou Auto and Changfeng Auto have merged, could the third generation Pajero form the basis for a future Guangzhou Auto SUV?

At the moment, only China Car Times has questions, but no answers. Changfeng are saying that the third gen Pajero does exist in Changfeng guise, but wont comment further on future production.

Chang’an Ford were kind enough to lend me their latest Ford Fiesta this weekend, the sedan version that will eventually see production also in North and South America. Usually when car makers design a sedan out of a hatchback car they manage to make ugly monstrosities that only developing world markets seem to buy (look at the Peugeot 207 sedan, for example). Not so for Ford: the Focus hatch and sedan are equally handsome cars and that has spread down into the latest Fiesta range. The kinetic design theory that is present across the Ford range has worked well for the latest Fiesta, the lines of the car clearly embrace the kinetic design style of ‘always accelerating’ even when standing still.

The Fiesta we had this weekend was a 1.5 Luxury sedan model, with a 4 speed automatic gearbox. Although the test colour, ‘gloaming silver‘ we had was not the best in the range, it certainly suits the sedan styling better than the vibrant blue or rustic orange colors which look better suited to the hatchback model. The Fiestas boot, or trunk to our dear American readers, is surprisingly large. Expecting a tiny little boot, I was extremely impressed to find that it could easily take two large suitcases at a push, or accomodate a great deal of grocery shopping. The interior is light and airy, the leather seats offer adequate comfort. The central console seems awfully complicated at first, but after five minutes of playing it becomes completely clear what it all does. Our car came with an AUX input, making it easy to hook up an MP3 player rather than using one of those awful radio transmitter things that always receive interference from every one else that has one at the traffic lights. The dashboard is long, and wide and the new Fiesta is essentially a Tardis; its a small car, but its also huge.

It’s easy to get comfortable at the wheel of the Fiesta, especially for someone like me that drives a huge SUV, and a smaller SUV often. Usually driving small cars after driving large ones makes me feel nervous, but not so in the Fiesta. The Fiesta handles extremely well, one could say its better to drive than the heavier Focus. The four speed automatic gearbox finds its feet at above 3000rpm but anything below its weak at best. When you accelerate from traffic lights, its almost as if the gearbox has a comittee meeting takes a vote before deciding whether or not to take action. As the gearbox is of the semi automatic kind, its easy to swap over to manual mode if you want to control the power. We took our test Fiesta (and test Mondeo) up the highway towards the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall, winding around the small twisty two lane highway was easy work for the Fiesta, with it easily mastering tight corners and braking sharply when needed. Overtaking in automatic mode is a challenge, I do recall throwing my fist in the air and screaming YYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! When I finally managed to get past a 1.6 VW Sagitar, but throw the gearbox into manual mode, keep the revs high and you’re laughing your way past BMW 7 series.

The Fiesta also has a few niggles. When pulling into a gas station to refill the tank I spent a good few minutes with the gas station attendant looking for the lever to pop the gas tank lid open, you won’t find one below the steering wheel or next to the driver’s seat like many other cars; in fact you won’t find one at all on the Fiesta. That’s because the gas tank cap doesn’t have a lever - you simply push the gas cap, and it pops open. A great idea, but the cap itself feels very flimsy when opened, and could easily break off. Another issue we had on our test drive was the lack of lights on a stalk, but this is common on most Ford Euro cars. Whilst driving through mountain tunnels I was frantically looking for the light switch, but it is obscured by the steering wheel. Obviously the above two issues are minor, a regular Fiesta driver would figure these out within an hour of owning the car.

So is the new Fiesta any good? Yes, the Fiesta is quite frankly a fantastic little car, the best in its segment. The sedan has a huge boot which will make it popular with small families, the hatch version has an excellent sporty stance. I expect that the Fiesta will sell well in its new role as a Global Car, even in North America when it goes on sale in 2010. The Ford Focus has almost become an automotive icon for middle class life in China; the Fiesta could easily become the automotive icon for upcoming young, professional white collar office workers. In 2010, I am planning to move to Shanghai and I doubt I will be driving my compact SUV around in the quagmire that is Shanghai traffic. Instead I will buy a small car and the Fiesta is currently at the top of my small car list, despite the abuse I suffered at the hands of my grandmother and her Fiesta over 20 years ago.

China Car Times Verdict: For city driving go and buy one, now.
Models: 1.3l and 1.5l with manual and automatic offerings.
Pricing: From 78,900rmb to 111,900rmb

Thanks to Wesley and Craig at Chang’an Ford, and Martin at APR for reviewing the grammar, and spelling!

Over the next few weeks, you will see the following changes:

• More News - Green news, interesting news, odd news
• More Reviews - We’re planning to work with more car companies to test/review their cars.
• More Pictures - This is something we’ve heard many complaints about before, we hope to add more pictures, larger galleries and video.
• Car Database - We’re working (slowly) on a comprehensive database of Chinese cars, searchable by price, specification, and engines.
• More User Input - We wish to gain more comments, more insight from our readers via the comment box and also through other methods.
• CCTV - The name gives it away, but it is being planned.

If you have any questions/criticism/praise, please contact us, or let us know via the comment box.

The new Sail has been codenamed the SNG, with its full name being Sail NB NGS, NB standing for ‘notchback‘ (aka the adding of a trunk on a hatchback) and NGS stands for New Global Car, which means the Sail will see sales in other developing markets, such as Brazil. The new Sail will come with the choice of either a 1.2l, or a 1.4l engine according to media reports.

Early news indicates that the high end V4 will come with a plugin hybrid system, CVT, ESP, ACC, in car computer, DVD (with AUX plugin) and intelligent GPS system, keyless start, all round air bag system, remote central locking, heated seats, and LED lights front and rear.

The SouEast V4 is certainly one to watch develop in 2009, and should see the market in 2010.

The M1 will be able to achieve a top speed of 160kph thanks to its 1.3l 88bhp engine, and will give out 115nm of torque. The M1 measures (LxWxH) 3645*1625*1620mm, and has a wheelbase of 2499mm.

Pricing has not yet been announced, but seeing as this will be China’s first AWD crossover, it might be around 60,000rmb to 80,000rmb depending on specification.

The most expensive Perry is still comes in at under 50,000rmb, for the same 1.3l engine mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox.

The Pery looks nothing like a Fiat Panda, or exactly like a Fiat Panda depending on which countries courts you believe, but as the Panda starts at around 10,000GBP, and Perry at 3,600GBP we we’d prefer the GWM offering and save a few RMB.

So it came to my suprise that a Ford Sierra, albeit the 2.0l version, was spotte in Qingdao:

Whilst the above example is far from being in first class condition, probably due to the lack of spare parts for it in the PRC, it is cool to see something from your childhood here. The black plates means that this car is registered to a foreign company, or foreign resident in China, which makes us wonder what sort of man would desperately would want to bring his Ford Sierra with him to China?

The Chinese Chairman, Hu Jintao, will be riding in the FAW made Hong Qi HQE, a Chinese design and developed limo which also houses the first domestically designed and built V12 engine.

The HQE was designed specifically for use by high level governmental ministers, chiefly the Chairman of China, and also the Prime Ministers. October 1st 2009 will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, and Chairman Hu will be using the HQE to review the Peoples Liberation Army. The HQE is a 100% handmade vehicle, with a body stretching over 6 meters long.
The V12 engine is a 6.0l model with compression at 10.3, the cylinders measure 84×90mm. The V12 produces 300kw at 5600rpm and a max torque of 550nm at 4000rpm, which puts the max torque at a little lower than the Audi A8 W12 engine.

Despite the current Chinese Jetta being a 1984 mark 2 VW Jetta, the Chinese have an odd love affair with the basic motor, probably due to its inability to die after suffering abuse at the hands of taxi drivers (million km Jetta’s are quite common) and the widespread availability of cheap parts. The VW Jetta was rumoured to be getting the Luger treatment in mid 2009, but it has been granted a stay of execution. Previous pictures on China Car Times revealed that the Jetta will be getting upgrades to its front and rear lights, and judging by the spy shot belows it seems to be largely true.

Rumors of FAW interest in a Brilliance takeover have been floating around for the past few weeks, especially since the central government started pushing for a consolidation of the Chinese car industry. Brilliance chairman, Mr. Qi Yu Min, announced today that they are still intent on going down the independent car making road, and have no immediate plans to be bought out.

Brilliance FSV

The FRV sedan is the first sedan that Brilliance has made from its new A-Class platform that it shares with Brilliance FRV hatch, crossover, and now the sedan.

Prices of the FRV sedan have not yet been announced (expected to be from 60,000rmb to 90,000rmb), but engine power is expected to follow the Brilliance FRV hatch, which includes engines flowing from 1.3, to 1.5, to 1.6l. The 1.3 may be dumped in the FSV in favor of the 1.5, which would be a manual, and a 1.6 which will be an automatic.

More pictures can be found here.

Transformers are big in China, so when the Bumblebee comes to town everyone goes slightly nostalgic for the ‘big yellow bee’. Over the weekend, a few ‘Camaro fans’ got together to go on a Camaro cruise across Shanghai in their Camero-esque cars, even the Chevrolet Cruze from last week took part. Our favorite has to be the Santana-maro.

Part One

Part Two

Thoughts in the comment box.

Shanghai, June 17 (Gasgoo.com) A completion ceremony for Geely Automobile Holdings’ acquisition of Australian automatic transmission supplier Drivetrain Systems International (DSI) was held on Monday in Melbourne, which marks Geely’s ownership of the DSI gearbox factory at Lavington officially begins.

Geely has appointed former Drive­train Systems International chief executive Mike Turner to a similar role with DSI, the name under which the factory will now operate. Plant manager Howard Morey will also stay in the job.

DSI receiver Stephen Longleysaid said production of gearboxes for Korean car maker SsangYong had resumed since the start of May and the factory was producing 350 Ford transmissions weekly.

The acquisition of an automatic transmission plant is a major step forward for Geely, as about 80 per cent of all vehicles sold in China are automatic.

DSI was placed into receivership on March 12, 2009. Two weeks later Geely signed an agreement to pay up to $58 million for the Australian transmission supplier.

Geely are clearly buying up anything thats not bolted down.