GM’s flagship brand, Cadillac, will gain a new production facility in the Pudong district of Shanghai later this year according to recent Chinese media reports.
The Chinese daily newspaper, First Financial Daily, is reporting that the new factory will be based in the Jinqiao area of Pudong, Shanghai, close to GM’s Asia-Pacific Headquarters with…
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The BYD Su Rui Sedan seems to be BYD’s game changing vehicle, the Su Rui was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year and launched shortly afterwards with pricing starting at 80,000RMB and topping out at around 120,000RMB. The Su Rui has now become known as the BYD G5 for overseas markets and will soon be exported out of China. In the meantime,…
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After buying Volvo, Geely have their sights set on another company: Aston Martin. According to reports originating from auto.sohu.com, Geely have already been deep in talks with Aston Martin regarding a potential buyout of the company.
Aston Martin was sold to Ford in 1987 and was then sold onto a Kuwaiti company, Investment Dar Inc, for 925 million…
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Beijing Auto’s B40 SUV has been spotted out many times, it was initially expected to launch towards the end of 2011 but was effectively delayed until the the launch of the company’s own Shen Bao brand late last month at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Shen Bao will be housing an entirely new range of vehicles all of which are thought to be launching within…
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The BYD Qin Hybrid is an entirely new hybrid from the makers of the original BYD F3 DM, the Qin was aired in concept form at the Beijing Auto Show in April where it was well received by media and consumers, however the real focus of that auto show was on the Su Rui sedan, the donor vehicle for the Qin’s electric hybrid engine. The F3DM was criticized…
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The VW Santana is set to launch on December 16th this…
BAIC may have seen the
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Luxury car maker Fisker are pushing back their plans for a China launch until 2013 according to Reuters reporter Nichola Groom who managed to corner Fisker’s Roger Ormisher on the floor of the LA Auto Show which opened this week.
Fisker said earlier it would launch in China by the end of this year. But the company encountered a slight delay…
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We never though the day when a Chinese car brand would sue an automaker from another country over trademark-related business would come, but it seems that this is exactly…
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The Youngman-Proton tie up is producing some interesting cars, not interesting in a ‘wow‘ factor but more interesting in the ‘What were they thinking?‘ aspect. Youngman bases its cars off the Proton RCR, a car that was originally sold in China but has since given away to two self developed models from Youngman, neither products are…
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The Guangzhou Auto Show gave us a chance to get up close with the new Santana. Volkswagen is using its tried and tested “Same sausage, different lengths” throughout its China models, from the Passat (US Passat) to the Magotan (Euro Passat) to the Sagitar (US Jetta) to the New Bora (China Bora), to the VW Lavida (China only) to the all new Jetta…
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BYD seems to be gaining strength, the Su Rui compact and the Si Rui mid size sedan were on show in Guangzhou with their nifty power 1.5T direct injection power plants and dual clutch gearboxes but the real star of the BYD line up is the BYD E6. The E6 debuted first as a taxi vehicle but then later came to the market as a personal model.
SAIC finally…
The Honda NSX aired for the first time in China at the Guangzhou Auto Show, although Japanese brands were suffering from political fall out from the Sino-Japanese island spat back in September Acura did not fail in their mission to draw crowds to their stand. Whilst the rest of the Acura range could be considered questionable, the NSX Concept is clearly…
Read More →Expect major updates from tomorrow onwards.
What we’ve seen so far:
Reuters automotive reports Fang Yan and Kazunori Takada have dished out the dirt on Chery and their loss making ways. The two reporters discovered that Chery is essentially being kept…
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SPRINGO, or rather Springo for those that don’t like to be shouted out is the new brand/model name for the Chevrolet Sail EV. The Sail was designed and developed in China for the Chinese market and other developing markets, South American markets have already been on the receiving end of the gasoline variant for several months now. The pure electric…
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Only several ports in China are open to automotive imports, Tianjin in the north is one of the largest ports in China with thousands of cars coming through each month. To take pressure off Tianjin, Qingdao has now been authorised to bring in new automobiles.
From China…
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The new joint venture between Chang-an Auto and Citroen (CAPSA) is quite possibly one of the more exciting ones in China, rather than producing the usual three box sedans that Chinese consumers were once so fond of, CAPSA are eager to bring in their flagship DS5.
The DS5 is already sold in China but the DS dealer network is spotty at best, the DS3,…
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Sichuan…
The Ford Fiesta is one of the more popular small cars in China, not quite as popular as the all conquering Chevrolet Sail with over 23,000 cars sold, in comparison the Fiesta hatch sold 2246 and the sedan version sold 1078 units, but these are different priced cars with the Fiesta sitting at the higher side of the market and the Sail at the lower end….
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Its been another good month for car manufacturers, as normal the usual faces are making it into the top 10 passenger cars but the addition of the latest Hyundai Elantra is an interesting one. A revised fifth generation Elantra was only just launched in China, the Lang Dong was aired at the Beijing Auto Show in April and seems to be gathering speed with…
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BYD’s Su Rui sedan has a cousin in the BYD Si Rui. The name is similar, and the exterior looks similar too, so what are the differences? We’re not entirely clear if this model is placed above the Si Rui or below it either, but we can tell you that like the Su Rui it is packed with technology. A 12.1 inch screen is the obvious focal point in the center…
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The UK automotive media have mostly loved the MG6 but consumers didn’t due to the lack of a diesel. That’s changed, MG now have a oil burning engine available for the MG6 with a 1.8 unit that pushes out 148bhp, for UK’ers that translates into just over 53mpg and 139g of Co2. The gasoline MG6 was a tough sell in the UK with just ‘dozens’ being sold every…
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City level auto shows have a tough time in boosting their visitor numbers, of course cars maybe a hot topic in China but auto shows seem to have been done to death. At the local level like Guiyang, auto shows are operated and run by the local dealerships, so how can you get national level coverage in competition with Shanghai and Beijing? You can try…
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American MG fans maybe waiting just a little longer for MG making it Stateside. Although certain rumors of MG setting up production in the US were circulating in the early days of 2005-2007, nothing ever came of it, now MG has a wide range but still those cars wont be seeing any North American roads in the near future. SAIC has however opened an office…
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Subaru’s all new…
Earlier this year at the Beijing Auto Show Haima showed off a concept named ‘Yao’, after months of seeing the ‘Yao’ road testing around China getting acclimatized to different weather conditions we can say the car is ready to hit the production lines. A pre-production model was recently spotted outside a hotel in…
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Beijing Auto’s…
Jeep became a political over the past two weeks when former presidential candidate Mitt Romney declared in a series of television adverts that Jeep was moving all of its production to China. The Obama camp were quick to respond, as was Sergio Marchionne, the Fiat-Chrysler CEO who stated time and time again that Jeep was moving to China to satisfy Chinese…
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SAIC’s first mass produced…
The JMC Qu Sheng SUV came about in partnership with Ford, the two companies have focused over the past few years on commercial vehicles which has now branched out into SUV’s. The Qu Sheng is not a strong seller, largely due to its high price when compared to better known Greatwall models, but the SUV has received strong reviews from Chinese media. The…
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Saab maybe an entry in the automotive history book but the brand sort of lives on in Beijing, when Beijing Auto bought the rights to the last generation 93 and 95 as well as the engines.
Although the C70G is based on Saab architecture it looks nothing like a Saab, its side has more of a BMW Bangle wrinkle…
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Brazil’s Districar have announced partnerships with China’s Haima and Chang’an Auto to produce the range of vehicles in Brazil by 2015, the same factory will also produce Ssangyong vehicles.
The three brands are currently imported into Brazil but Districar’s CEO Abdul Ibraimo believes that there is a strong business car for localized production…
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JAC have…
China loves the Santana. The car was first introduced in 1984 and claims the title as the first passenger car made in China, of course the Jeep Cherokee made it a few months earlier but claimed the crown as the first foreign vehicle made in China. The partnership between Shanghai Auto and Volkswagen bloomed from a tiny few hundred units per year into…
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The rift between China and Japan is making some companies, such as Honda, pull back on their profit goals for 2012. How long will this last and will the CRV lose its crown as the best selling SUV in China?
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The Chinese auto market is made up entirely of individual auto makers, there are the larger state owned companies that have several of their own brands, such as SAIC that owns Roewe and MG and Maxus, and First Automobile Works that owns Xiali, Besturn and Hong Qi, but these companies are shouldering the burden of design and development entirely by themselves,…
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FAW really don’t know what to do with their brands, on one hand they invented Besturn as a mid range brand and kept Red Flag as a high level premium and the Xiali brand as a low cost brand, but the FAW badge has crept in across the range somewhat dilluting their branding efforts, Besturn models also sported the Redflag logo on the hood for a while too.
The…
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Ironman was a popular flick in the People’s Republic, and with all popular automotive slanted flicks that air in China the cars are ultimately the star, just ask GM about the halo effect of Bumblebee. Ironman’s then concept Acura NSX is going to be turned into a production car at the Detroit Auto Show in January and should be on the market in China…
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Over the past few days a number of rumors have appeared regarding VW in China, the rumors are basically:Shanghai VW are planning a new factory in Changsha, FAW-VW are planning a factory in Inner Mongolia.
As before with the Shanghai-VW investment in Xinjiang we broke the story first, it seemed an odd investment for a Shanghai based auto company to…
Read More →This piece was written by long term China Car Times commentator August Schwartz who has been following the Chinese auto industry closely and from affair for the past decade.
The last week or so I have had a burning desire to do something I have not done in a very long time. It has been nearly five years since I wrote my last piece on Lifan,…
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Although Lifan are not a strong name in the Chinese market, they have grown at a rapid rate in the global market, particularly in developing markets such as Russia.
At a press conference earlier today it was announced that Lifan exported 53,000 vehicles this year and expects to export 75,000 by the end of the year, this figure is going to be expanded…
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This article was originally posted to the Chinese auto portal Auto.163.com late last week, I put it into my bookmarks with the aim of translating it over the weekend, it didn’t happen of course but life did and I finally had a chance to translate it over lunch on Tuesday. Except the original article had been deleted from the Auto 163 site. Perhaps it…
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Two generations of Ford Focus’ are on the market today in China, the newer Focus is aimed at those that want the latest toys and design, the older one has been named the Classic Focus and is aimed at those that want solid reliability for a model that’s been on the market for the past 5 years or so.
The Classic came with a 4speed autobox or a 5 speed…
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FAW’s Besturn brand suddenly burst into life with the creation of the Besturn B50 in 2008, before that they created the B70 and recently the B80 midsize sedan, all of which use the Mazda 6 platform. FAW are hoping that Besturn can become a major player in the Chinese auto industry, but the brands late arrival when compared to Roewe and MG, has left…
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Nissan seems to be putting the China-Japan spat behind them with sales improving daily, at least according to Reuters:
Sales by Japan’s Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) in China are improving day by day, Executive Vice President Hiroto Saikawa told reporters on Monday.
Saikawa said he hoped to see sales return to a normal pace in about two…
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Qoros are still on with their plans to become a major player in the auto industry, the Israeli-Chinese JV are still on track with their plans to launch their first model in March next year. The company has set up its HQ in downtown Shanghai and also has a joint production facility in Changshu, 100km from Shanghai, in partnership with Chery.
The…
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The ASX has very quietly been produced in Changsha earlier this week, the compact SUV is the first product from the joint venture between Guangzhou Auto and Mitsubishi and came after Guangzhou took over Changsha Auto who originally had the JV with Mitsubishi.
The ASX comes with a 1.6L and a 2.0L engine with both 5 speed manual and CVT gearboxes…
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Dongfeng Auto announced today that it has bought a 70% share in the Swedish engineering firm, T Engineering AB. T Engineering was a spin off from Saab Automobile Powertrain and focuses on developing powertrains for the automotive world.
The original agreement was signed on December 8th 2011 and will see Dongfeng buy 70% of the company in stage one…
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From Birmingham Mail:
LONGBRIDGE ran up losses of more than s4.6 million last year despite selling more cars following the long-awaited… Read More →
Luxgen’s slow but sure rise to fame is happening in…
ZX Auto ruled the Libyan desert last year when freedom fighters stole them from Gadaffi’s parking lots and used them against his army. ZX Auto used the pictures from Libya as part of a major marketing campaign to keep the brand relevant whilst it survives in the shadow of its larger neighbor just up the road at Great Wall Auto.
ZX are…
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Daihatsu is one of those car manufacturers that made massive early gains in the Chinese market only to proverbially piss it all into the wind just as the market began to really open. The Japanese company played upon early warm relations between Japan and China when Japan was all about investing its new found wealth into its former colony, Daihatsu hit…
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Jaguar Land Rover have big plans for China thanks to their new JV with Chery, the Indian owned British company has had a fantastic record in the past four years of making cars that consumers actually want rather than making cars that it thinks the consumer wants, we only have to look at the success of the Jaguar XF, XJ and Range Rover Evoque in the…
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The China Festival of Speed promised so much, at least on paper. A few tell tale signs that the event wouldn’t be up to expectations came via their official website, parts of it were still under construction come opening curtain time but the organizers were active on Chinese social media circles, busily promoting the event to super car clubs, car clubs,…
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Prior to World War Two as Westerners know it, Imperial Japan was busy taking hold of land in Asia, Modern Day Okinawa, Korea, Taiwan and the surrounding islands to Taiwan. Fast Forward to 1945, Japan had surrendered to the US and its allies, and countries were waking up from 50 years of Japanese colonization. All land was returned, except for a group…
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Despite political issues between Japan and China which have reportedly kept Chinese consumers out of Japanese auto dealerships, FAW-Toyota announced that their total sales reached 350,000 units in the first half of the year.
Three models appear to be making up the back bone of the FAW-Toyota range, the Corolla, Reiz and RAV4 racked up sales of 170,000,…
Read More →From Reuters:
The United States is considering action against auto parts imports from China and closely examining other concerns about automobile trade with the world’s second largest economy, a top U.S. trade official said on Friday.
“We are looking at a variety of issues in the bilateral relationship, including, I would say, in the…
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From Bloomberg:
China’s biggest auto-dealer association said carmakers need to scale back their sales targets or sweeten incentives because the worsening glut of vehicles across the nation’s dealerships is unsustainable.
Average inventory carried at Chinese dealerships bloated to a level exceeding two months of…
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Via Reuters:
China Auto Rental has formally withdrawn its application to hold an initial public offering in the United States, marking an end to the first attempt by a Chinese firm to list in New York since U.S. regulators tightened rules for foreign applicants.
The company, which postponed a planned NASDAQ listing on April 24 citing…
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BMW are likely to be readying its ActiveHybrid technology into China later this if these road testing pictures are to be believed, the new 3-Series is on the verge of being aired in China in the next 10 days at the Beijing Auto Show with its new four cylinder turbo engine and its new long wheelbase variant. The next generation of 3-Series is being made…
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The Passat…
The Suzuki WagonR was a funny little box when it first came out, but the facelifts given to the microbox after it first aired are making look even worse. Although its exterior asthetics may not please us, it seems to be on a winning streak in the Chinese countryside where demand for cars such as the WagonR is still quite high, the current WagonR has…
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