GM China’s sales are on a tear. November sales in China jumped 109.5 percent, Reuters reports, citing a company release. GM and its joint ventures sold 177,339 vehicles in November. As goes GM, so goes the Nation.
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The car business and the news surrounding it have their seasonality (hence the SAAR.) As far as the news is concerned, we must have reached the “soak” part of the news cycle. It can only spin faster, or we should all take a vacation. Read on if you suffer from insomnia …
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Pundits keep repeating that the biggest obstacle to Chinese companies buying Western brands is the culture gap. Adept at building monstrous bridges, the Chinese are tackling the culture thing. They even switched from Chinglish to Americanisms. Asked by reporters whether BAIC would consider approaching Saab alone, BAIC CEO Wang Dazong said: “I would just say, ‘stay tuned a little bit’.”

And who says Americans just plan for the next quarter, while Chinese plan for eternities? Wang Dazong sounds like GM is inhabited by slowpokes. Or by folks who had too much weed:
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China’s Greatwall is apparently hell-bent on selling their Coolbear MPV in Europe next year. China Car Times reports that Greatwall has received the ECE Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA,) awarded by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA.) The WVTA testing covers 48 different tests; 13 on active safety, 13 on passive safety and 8 on emissions and environmental protection. Passing the test makes the Coolbear legal to sell all over Europe and in any and all countries that accept the ECE regimen.
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Before this year ends, Beijing will have 4 million cars on the roads. Not to worry, says a city official, there is room for more.

Beijing’s car population reached 3.96 million last week, writes the state news agency Xinhua. The city adds 2100 new cars per day. At that rate, the 4m mark will be reached in 19 days.
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South Korea’s Hyundai will spend some $800m to build a third Chinese plant, says the Nikkei [sub]. The plant will be located in Beijing along with its two existing facilities. It is targeted to come on-stream at the end of 2011, with an annual capacity of 300,000 units.
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After we reported yesterday that the talks between Geely and Ford about Volvo are intensifying, China’s Xinhua news agency runs a terse one-liner today: “China’s Geely Holding Group said Friday it was having a detailed and in-depth discussion with Ford over relevant terms and contracts about acquiring Volvo.” That’s it. Short, sweet, and to the point. Read More >

While bumbling GM so far hasn’t closed any of their cast-off brands deals, Ford’s  Volvo sale to Geely appears to progress quietly, but steadily. The usually well informed and reliable  China Car Times says that Geely is “feeling secure about the Volvo purchase.”

Ford has enlisted JP Morgan and Citigroup to assist with the sale, Geely has employed Rothschild. The deal is expected to close soon, “before the start of 2010.”

According to CCT, Geely is working off a seven point checklist:
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No wonder GM decided it couldn’t give up Opel… it would have lost Buick as well! Expect this Buick Excelle (a rebadged Opel Astra in the style of the new Regal) to arrive in the US under a different name (and probably in sedan form only) around the 2012 model year.

For weeks now, the only realistic bid for Volvo has has come from the Chinese automaker Geely. They’ve been Fords’ “preferred bidder” for about a month ago, and last week, Geely’s management were in meetings with Volvo’s unions, and with Volvo AB (commercial vehicle company) about the Volvo trademarks – which are owned 50/50 between Ford and Volvo AB. At the same time time, Ford seemes to be in no hurry to sell Volvo,  leading many to speculate that Ford was dragging their feet waiting for new and improved offers. We’ve been posting about the two other possible bidders, Consortiums Jakob and Crown earlier, and reports in Swedish media today say that Crown are now ready to make an offer, to be presented this week.

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China’s car sales can’t go on forever growing at a 50 percent to sometimes 100 percent clip, auto execs agree at the Guangzhou auto show. All are convinced that the growth will continue next year at a more – what’s the buzzword?- sustainable rate.

The Guangzhou auto show opened today. In case you’ve never heard of Guangzhou, it is a city of around 10m (nobody knows for sure,) and the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River delta. Formerly known as Canton. About 30 percent of China’s GDP is produced in the South. The opening of the show prompted some major announcements. Here are some of them:
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We got a good giggle (and several excellent limericks) out of Chery’s Bentley-aping Riich brand logo back in March, so we thought we’d show off a peek at what qualifies as upmarket for Chery. Priced at about $8,165, the Riich X1 makes do with an 84 hp, 1.3 liter engine which motivates the tiny crossover to 60 mph in a very un-upmarket 16 seconds. Which is no big deal, considering top speed is rated at about 93 mph. The X1 does offer alloy wheels, climate control, parking sensors and mp3 connectivity though. As tempting as it is to simply laugh off at the Chinese version of upmarket branding, a look at this advertisement for the X1’s sibling, the Riich M1, shows a young professional-oriented vibrancy that’s become rare in US-market auto advertising. What the Chinese market clearly lacks in technology and expectation, it makes up for with an enthusiasm born of seemingly limitless potential. [via Automotorundsport.de]

The long-rumored Chinese invasion may be coming sooner than we expected. Automotive World reports that Chinese automaker Brilliance has signed letters of intent with 36 US dealers in preparation for a US market launch. According to the report, Brilliance intends to launch products in the US as soon as it acquires 100 dealers. Apparently Brilliance’s US distributor is targeting former Saturn dealers, Roger Penske’s US network, Hummer dealers and the Galpin group. Rumors are even swirling that Brilliance could buy the Saturn name to re-brand its US-market products.

China’s SAIC, which had bought Britain’s MG and Rover in a roundabout way, is expected to unveil a production version of the MG 6 at the upcoming 2009 Guangzhou auto show next week, Gasgoo writes.
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