The Chinese government has sent back Sichuan Tenzhong’s bid for GM’s Hummer brand, reportedly due to uncertainty regarding whether Hummer’s patents were part of the deal. “I, based on the current situation, understand that it’s not in coordination with our nation’s industrial policy,” Vice Minister for Commerce Chen Jian tells Bloomberg. But, says Chen, it was not the commerce ministry that nixed the deal. A different “relevant department is currently reviewing and has expressed opposition,” Chen said. It seems Chen was probably referring to the National Development and Reform Commission. GM and Tenzhong both claim to still be pursuing the deal. [Hat Tip: ohsnapback]
Rumors involving Chinese automaker SAIC in Saab’s rescue plans have been percolating for some time now. Christian Von Koenigsegg raised the possibility in an Auto Motor and Sport interview [via Saabsunited], saying, “we may look at producing Saabs for China, in China.” Then came word from an anonymous source quoted in Reuters as saying, “SAIC is considering taking a stake in Saab but has not made up its mind or the size of any possible investment.” And yet, mysteriously, it seems that Koenigsegg’s $420M financing shortfall has magically disappeared. SAIC refuses to confirm that it is the anonymous funding source, pleading shyness in the wake of its recent disastrous ownership of Korean automaker Ssangyong.
China is expected to manufacture a record 12 million vehicles in 2009, said Chen Bin, director of the department of industry under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) via Gasgoo. This is a lowball estimate.
Now we know why China is at the forefront of alternative energy propulsion:
For oil, China is at the mercy of unstable places and easily disruptable shipping routes. The Middle Kingdom is the second-largest oil consumer in the world (behind the United States). China imports about half of its oil, making it the third-largest net oil importer in the world behind the United States and Japan.
When it comes to dysprosium and terbium, China is in a much better position, called a quasi-monopoly. Read More >
TTAC commentator kurkosdr is having issues with “the comminazi governments of Russia and China.” He’s hoping that “perhaps we can still save the car industry from the Chinese and the Russians.” He better be heading for the hills, because New GM has completely opposite plans.
If it sounds too good to be true, someone somewhere is scamming someone somewhere. This morning’s story in Automotive News [AN, sub] would almost have us believe that former Brilliance automotive CEO Yang Rong is “leading a venture to build a $6.5 billion auto plant in northern Mississippi, where he would hire 25,000 workers to eventually produce 1 million cars a year.” ‘Cause, you know, the U.S. market has room for another mainstream automotive brand. To its credit, AN sees a few problems with the concept: “It would be easy to dismiss his proposal out of hand. The plan has no brand, products or retail network. But Yang oversaw a rise from nowhere in Brilliance’s fortunes in the 1990s, and he has been attracting money from some of China’s wealthy residents.” The last part of that statement is the most credible; and it doesn’t bode well for anyone gullible enough to invest in Rong’s visionary vehicles. Oh, and Uncle Sam’s part of the scam . . .
After a lot of hand-wringing, all indications point to China’s tiny Tengzhong finally finalizing their deal with GM to take HUMMER off their hands. According to Reuters, the deal may be signed this coming week.
More fodder for the “Chrysler adjusts to life as a Marchionnian pawn” file, as Reuters reports that the Chrysler C-platform may be headed to China. Yes, anyone who’s ever driven a Caliber, Compass or Patriot will have a joke at the ready, as ChryCo’s compact threesome already ooze that “straight outta Tianjin” flava. Maybe Fiat figures that if GM can sell Buicks there by the boatload, a Compass might come across as mildly aspirational. On the other hand, this was already tried with the PT Cruiser. Back then, Chrysler couldn’t find anyone in a nation of a billion people who wanted to produce bulbous, tacky, out-of-date hatchbacks. It’s hard to see why Fiat thinks this go-round will be any different.
There’s some surprising news in Automotive News [sub] today in GM’s ongoing attempt to save Opel (and, more importantly, its intellectual property). Since the German Government shot down the only proposal that would keep Opel IP with GM, the General is scrambling to prevent its erstwhile German arm from falling to Magna and GAZ/Sberbank. But who on earth would give GM the $4 billion it needs (now) to keep Opel on board the mothership (for the moment)? Surely only the American taxpayers are that gullible! Unfortunately for GM, there’s a catch. Automotive News explains:
Because GM is barred from using funding from the U.S. government from its reorganization in bankruptcy to support its international operations, one of the options could include raising money by selling or mortgaging the automaker’s assets in China, one of the sources said.
Chinese battery/auto firm BYD has been on a roll since Warren Buffett took a ten percent stake in it last year. BYD recently snagged a technology-sharing agreement with VW, and just agreed to supply SAIC with its batteries. In fact, in the nine months since Buffett invested in BYD his $230 million investment has increased its value by an estimated $1 billion. Which is a good enough return for Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Co-Chairman Charlie Munger to call BYD CEO Wang Chuan-Fu “a combination of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch—something like Edison in solving technical problems, and something like Welch in getting done what he needs to do. I have never seen anything like it.”
GM China’s sales are on a tear because of small mini buses made by SAIC-GM-Wuling. The venture, in which GM owns 34 percent, sold 87,925 of the small, rugged utes in July alone, up 90.7 percent from a year earlier. They are mostly being snapped up by farmers, helped by Beijing’s stimulus initiatives. Now, GM injects additional steroids: Exports of the Made in China vehicles. Read More >
China’s auto sales are redlining. First to recover from carmageddon China had jumped into double digit growth territory in February and never looked back. Months after month, the increases became bigger. Now, they explode.
Geely has been given the red stamp of approval to go forth and buy Ford’s Volvo, Gasgoo reports. The permit was issued by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which has to approve foreign acquisitions exceeding $100 million. Gasgoo says that Geely is “the only Chinese automaker that has won official confirmation on such deals.” A thinly veiled hint that the Hummer deal is still up in the air. Changan, Ford’s joint venture partner for Volvo in China, said it would not run for Volvo “because of unspecified conditions,” Gasgoo says. How much money will change hands?
Last June, China’s overall vehicle sales had soared 36.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.14m units. The “passenger vehicle” segment rose 48.4 percent in June from a year earlier to a record 872,900 units. In July, these numbers will most likely be surpassed. While the rest of the world is in tears, China is on a tear. The indicator: GM.
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