Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

cct logo Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

Hi {name},

 

You may have noticed the absence of the China Car Times newsletter from your inbox for the past few weeks, for that we are really sorry. It’s been a hectic month or two at China Car Times with lots of news happening which often takes away from our newsletter writing ability, this month we’ve seen Chengdu play host to the World Auto Forum which was a marathon week for reporters. The World Auto Forum is in its second year and seems to be gaining some importance in the China automotive calendar, last year the international media barely attended, this year a core group attended and the message about the forum grew wider. Here’s hoping next year’s event is even bigger, with some bigger name stars. The forum played host to some of the most talked about men this month, Pang Qing Nian from Youngman Group and also Pang Qing Hua from Pangda Group, the two CEO’s fielded questions from media and of course all the questions are Saab focused.

The Saab issue doesn’t seem to be any closer to being resolved, with a recent takeover bid from the two Chinese companies still on the table it seems that Saab maybe going down the tube unless funding can be found and of course if the Chinese government supports the two companies in buying a nearly bankrupt car company with worker liabilities, no core technology aside from a platform that hasn’t yet been produced and doesn’t have the rights to the IPR under its current car range. So what might happen to Saab? Mulling it over with people in the industry the other day, maybe people seemed to be pessimistic towards the Swedish brand, several felt that BAIC should have saved the company themselves two years ago before it got really messy, and others felt that Pangda-Youngman are waiting for the company to fold before picking up the pieces at a Swedish Government sponsored yard sale.

Besides Saab, the other big news this month has been the launch of the BYD E6 which is being hailed as a victory for Chinese development capabilities by certain media outlets in China, of course the car is certainly a breakthrough in many respects, but its high price of 369,000rmb maybe off putting to many potential consumers, even when multiple subsidies kick the price down to 249,000rmb its still a pricey BYD model.

Foton’s new Tunland Pick Up Truck could also be considered a game changing vehicle alongside the BYD E6, for too long Chinese manufacturers have been focused on putting Chinese market cars in to global auto markets which has so far been their undoing, what works in one country does not quite work well in another, so for Foton to go out on a limb and make a mid size truck which will see greater sales in overseas markets it’s a major step forward for a Chinese car manufacturer, hopefully we will be seeing more of this in the future.

Happy Birthday! China Car Times is nearly at its sixth birthday! We always like to hear from our readers as to how we could potentially make the website a better place for all. If you have any suggestions regarding content, what we should add, or what we shouldn’t, please send it to us at editor@chinacartimes.com. We can only make a better website with the readers input!

Today on China Car Times:

 

Audi not sexy enough for Chinese consumers

Business Week are reporting that Audi is loosing its sex appeal to its rivals BMW and Mercedes, but is that really the case? The A6L is the cornerstone of the Chinese governments automotive fleet, but the last generation A4 was certainly a ‘personal use’ vehicle and the new A4L seems to span the lines of [...]

An inside look at the Chery G6 Limo,

G3 Spy42 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

The Chery G6 was born with government ministers in mind, the government have been told to put down their Audi’s and pick up Chinese branded cars as part of a cost cutting exercise that also benefits the local car industry and also boost the Civil Service in terms of PR. Chery have decided that their [...]

Can BYD really Build Your Dreams? E6 hits the market

BYD’s e6 personal edition hit the market in Shenzhen on 26 October after a 17-month stint in the Shenzhen taxi fleet. If everything goes well, the e6 will become a milestone of electric cars the world over, because of its range of 300km, and BYD will successfully build our dream – BYD is short for [...]

Chery Riich X3 spotted out testing – looking like a semi desirable car

X3 Riich 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

When Chery introduced the Riich brand, I personally thought that their thinking was right, but the execution a bit off. It’s hard to shake off the economy brand moniker, especially if you want to make high end cars so the only way to do it is to start with a high end car under a [...]

BMW X6 tries to race two Lambo’s down the Chengdu-Shanghai highway

youku idiots 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

Shanghai to Chengdu is no trip around the block, its a thousand kilometer highway that stretches from the East Coast all the way to the interior lands of Sichuan and ends at Chengdu city. Now three idiots decided to make the highway into their own personal race track, a BMW X6 saw a great opportunity [...]

Foton’s 2.8L Cummins Turbo Diesel Mid Size Truck to launch in January next year

Foton Tunland 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

Foton unveiled their new huffing heavy pick up truck late yesterday ahead of its initial production and sales launch in January next year, journalists were able to get a taste of what the big truck might look like. Foton, as part of BAIC Group, are being pushed to ‘leave the country’ and develop export markets [...]

BAIC’s Saab based C70 seen out testing in final metal

C70 final metal 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

Beijing Auto’s development of their Saab based vehicles has been a long drawn out affair, if we look back to 2005 when MG-Rover went bankrupt and its IPR subsequently sold on to SAIC, Roewe was born just a year later on the back of the Rover 75. Now if we look back to Saab’s IPR [...]

Jaguar & Land Rover will launch joint brand; First locally-made model could be totally new

Insiders reveal that the partnership talks between Chery and Jaguar & Land Rover has achieved substantial progress after Chery’s partnership plan with Subaru was rejected. The two sides have reached agreements on many key aspects, and now they are waiting for the approval from the government authorities who are key to getting the plan approved. [...]

Confirmed: New Roewe 550 will have dual clutch gearbox

facelift 2012 550 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

The next Roewe 550 is nearly here judging by the below spy shot, furthermore the Chinese media are confirming that the 550 will be carrying 1.8L and 1.8T engines combined with a dual clutch gearbox. So who supplied the new gearbox? Is it from SAIC’s partner at VW via Borgwarner? Is it self developed? Sort [...]

Facelift X-Trail spied, will launch in Guangzhou Auto Show

X Trail Facelift 130x130 Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

How old is the X-Trail now? The X-Trail will be ten years old next year and it doesn’t seem to be going out of style anytime soon, the chunky styling seems to take this city SUV into a capable off road vehicle. The Chinese market has had the X-Trail as a locally made vehicle since [...]

 

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ash 010 web avatar Newsletter 14 28th Oct 2011

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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