Except for Nissan, which outpaced the market, the big Japanese automakers are having a bit of a hard time in China. Toyota and Honda received a lot of bad press in the Middle Kingdom. Toyota for its recalls. Honda for its series of strikes. Whatever the reason, both are losing market share. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year, when the red-hot Chinese market is expected to cool down a bit. Read More >

Two robots are retracing the tracks of Marco Polo and are on their way from Italy to China. The two heavily modified driverless Piaggio Porter Electric vans started last week in front of of the Milan Cathedral. By end of October they are expected to arrive in Shanghai after having driven 8,000 miles, all the way through Siberia and the Gobi Desert, all by themselves, untouched by human hands.

Well, kind of. Read More >

Ever heard of Ronn Motor Company? We don’t blame you. Well, at least they have a website. They even have their own in-house chaplain. (sometimes called a “Chaplin”. As in Charley.) They have reason to pray a lot, and to keep up their good humor: At the time of this typing, their stock traded (on the pink sheets) at 6 cents. It once fetched $6.

That minor detail doesn’t deter them from announcing that their “Scorpion® eco-exotic supercar, H2GO® real time hydrogen production unit and Ronnzoil® biodegradable lubricants may soon be available in China and the rest of Asia in the coming months.” Why?  Because everybody goes there. Read More >

China Car Times reports that “Whilst the Chinese auto market is down as a whole,” (well, it’s not “down”, a growth of 23.5 percent in June is not “down”, and a growth of 48.2 percent in the first half year isn‘t “down” either – it just cooled off a bit, in a Chinese way)  “there are certain niche segments such as the luxury car business that seems to performing above and beyond expectations.”

Apart from the tortured language – no kidding. Read More >

It’s a new Wirtschaftswunder, a new economic miracle: While sales in Germany and Europe nosedive, Volkswagen can’t make cars fast enough, and produces record results. In June, German car sales were down 28.7 percent. The European market was down 6.9 percent. That should hurt Volkswagen, by far Europe’s largest carmaker big, shouldn’t it? It should, but it didn’t. In the first half of 2010, the Volkswagen Group delivered more vehicles than they hoped in their wildest dreams. Read More >

Everybody is worried about China flooding the world with cheap cars. Just the opposite is true. The world is flooding China with expensive cars. China has become one of the prime export markets for major carmakers the world over, especially in the higher segments. For next year, a unit of the Chinese government predicts imports  to China to exceed the 1 million mark. Exports remain lacklustre. Read More >

Whereas other Japanese carmakers struggle a bit in keeping up with the still quite hot Chinese market, Nissan finds itself way ahead. Nissan’s China sales rose 51.4 percent in the first half to 503,077 vehicles, says The Nikkei [sub]. Reason given: strong demand from middle-class buyers.  The Chinese market as a whole rose some 30 percent in the first six months. Read More >

If GM wants to pull off a smashing IPO, they need smashing numbers. There are people they can learn from: Their friends and joint venture partners at China’s SAIC. China’s largest automaker (they have joint ventures with both GM and Volkswagen, can’t get any bigger), said first-half profit may have more than quadrupled from a year earlier, reports Bloomberg. And the secret to their success? Read More >

Ok, so we heard that BYD is moving onto the home appliance market. Now, BYD takes  development to a whole new level We hear that they will build whole homes! No drywall comments, please, these are environmentally friendly homes. China’s electric car manufacturer BYD Auto teamed up with California’s KB Home to build new energy homes in Lancaster, California. The first-phase construction of the project has recently been completed, Gasgoo says. Read More >

Those who have an ideological beef with China should keep one thing in mind: Without China, the car industry (to name just one segment) would be dead. China’s unbridled appetite for cars keeps the whole industry humming. Two examples: Read More >

Today, GM broke ground for another R&D Center in China, called the GM China Advanced Technical Center. The new facility is in addition to existing R&D centers in China, including the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) in Shanghai and the China Automotive Energy Research Center (CAERC) in Beijing. Read More >

Shanghai Volkswagen, the joint venture between China’s SAIC and Volkswagen, lost its General Manager and three other people in a road accident  in Jiuquan, southwestern China’s Gansu province, AFP reports. Read More >

If you are hoping that the Chinese bubble will burst in no time, putting China back on bicycles, then this story is not for you. If you are worried about little people in Asia using up all the precious hydrocarbons we use for our bigger cars, then we must warn you that reading further could be hazardous to your circulatory system. You have been warned. Read More >

Volkswagen is betting big on China. Volkswagen wants to double their production capacity in China to three million vehicles by 2013/14. That is roughly half of their current worldwide production. To do that, Volkswagen will finally build their long rumored, but often denied second new plant in China.  A week ago, Volkswagen had announced that they would build a plant with their northern partner FAW in China’s deep south. Read More >

Honda is the Chinese version of Rodney Dangerfield. No respect. After a series of strikes, first at Honda’s parts suppliers, then at Honda itself, things looked liked they are calming down. Until yesterday. Read More >