Hi {name},
Is Volvo a Chinese company, or a Swedish company? This seems to be the problem that is troubling the Chinese government this week. Swedish incorporated Volvo is of course owned by Zhejiang based Geely Auto which makes it a Chinese company technically, but will China’s National Development and Reform Council (NDRC) see it this way? Geely are pinning Volvo’s revival on the Chinese market (and of course a way to earn their 2 billion USD investment back) and plan to sell upto 200,000 cars per year in China alone in the next few years along with two new Volvo factories. Now the problem is that every foreign car maker in China has to have a local joint venture partner to make cars in China, GM are signed up with Shanghai VW, Peugeot are signed with Dongfeng Auto etc, but if Volvo are a Chinese owned company, then they must be able to set up car factories as a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE). But if the NDRC allow Volvo to set up independent plants in China they will be setting a precedent, of course they could just push Geely into a face saving manouvre and make them set up a Volvo-Geely JV, but any mention of Geely alongside Volvo (or on the back of Chinese built Volvos) then consumer confidence in the brand may drop rapidly.
June’s sales bucked forecasts with only Japanese manufacturers losing out due to supply shortages which lead to long lead times on car deliveries, sending consumers elsewhere. Despite the very poor weather which rocked the southern part of the nation with flooding, consumers still managed to make it out to the dealerships to buy new cars. June sales increased by 6.2% over June 2010 sales and 6.1% over May 2011 sales which shows there is still life in the market with 1.11 million new cars taking to the roads. Half year sales stood at 7.1 million units, which is an increase of 5.8% over the same time period in 2010.
Fiat are officially back in China this week with the launch of the Fiat 500 in China, according a recent interview with Fiat’s Global Operations Director Mr. Lorenzo Sistino, Fiat are using the 500’s launch as a branding exercise to let consumers know that Fiat are back in action in the Middle Kingdom. Fiat left the Chinese market in 2008 when their joint venture with Nanjing Auto broke down, later Guangzhou Auto signed with Fiat to set up a new joint venture which will work on bringing Fiat’s latest product line up to China – including the Jeep and Chrysler brands.
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What do you do when you want to sell more cars in China? You raise the suspension slightly and add layers of black plastic to the outside to give it that crossover feel – except instead of marketing it as a mini SUV, you sell it as a sports model. Confused? Well that’s just how [...]
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Guangzhou Auto (GAC) are planning to launch their compact SUV later this year with an expected launch date of November 2011 being touted by media reports, another model – a rumored compact sedan is expected to be on show at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November in concept form. The vice president of the Chuan [...]
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Beijing-Benz, the joint venture between Beijing Auto Industry Corp (BAIC) and Mercedes Benz have finally unveiled their locally built GLK for the Chinese market. The premium crossover market has certainly heated up in the past few months since the market leaders, Audi, introduced the Q5 meaning that Audi’s Germanic rivals have had to rush their [...]
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Last year’s Global Automotive Forum was held in Chengdu and was a major success for the organisers and attendees. The forum brought the leaders of the international and Chinese automotive industry, policy makers and local governments together under one roof for a special two day event. The forum covered various different topics that were affecting [...]
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Dong Yang, the vice chairman and secretary general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), said at an industry information release that CAAM has revised the growth forecast from 10-15% down to 5%, which will be a good chance for the auto market to regain ration. He also said he hopes the automakers to learn [...]
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Most of China’s stock market listed automakers saw June output and sales declining from a year earlier. Some automakers kept growing, but the growth fell sharply from the same period of last year. Affected by the expiration of incentive policies, monetary tightening, and industry adjustment, China’s auto output and sales started to slow down after [...]
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Fiat’s Global Operations Director Mr. Lorenzo Sistino recently accepted an interview with the Chinese automotive website Auto 163 where he underlined plans for Fiat in the Chinese market. During the interview Mr. Sistino expressed that he believes that Fiat has wasted three years in China, presumably from a lack of a partner and having to [...]
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This news came via an anonymous tipster early this morning and seems to show that a Beijing based start up may have been able to overcome the issues that have plagued EV manufacturers so far, albeit at a slightly price: A Beijing startup called Wuhe is making electrode materials and batteries that could lower the [...]
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FAW-Volkswagen’s general manager Mr. An Tie Cheng revealed on July 11 that Audi plans to raise its capacity in China from near 300,000 units to 700,000 units, and to increase the number of dealers from 185 to 500 by 2015. Meanwhile, Audi will launch mild hybrid versions of its full product series next year. The [...]
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A delegation from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries recently visited Zotye according to insider information from within Zotye. The two were apparently eager to talk business and jointly held a seminar. The two sides exchange information about the R&D and manufacturing technologies like conventional energy-efficient and new energy vehicles, motor, powertrain system, metal mold, and testing equipment, [...]
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