TTAC  has written many times about the growing dependency on China, and now there is a voice that says that GM is more enslaved to China than it is to Washington. (Read More…)

CAREFUL, NOISY! Lower volume before playing.

The Paris auto show opens its doors tomorrow to the press (sans TTAC, our suggestion to make a pilgrimage in a Dacia all the way from Rumania to Paris was inexplicably met with an “um, maybe another time,”) but the thoughts of makers of luxury cars are in China, where their party could be over. (Read More…)

The row between China and Japan over a few rocks in the East China Sea, alternately called Senkaku and Diaoyu islands, is threatening to derail production and sales plans of Japanese automakers. Many in the industry say that “Chinese consumers are unlikely to return to Japanese cars anytime soon,” as The Nikkei [sub] says. Already, Japanese automakers have curtailed production in and exports to China. The problem  may not be a temporary one. (Read More…)

Today, GM and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC opened what GM China President Kevin Wale called “China’s largest proving ground.“ The test track west of Shanghai did cost about $252.5 million, Reuters says. Automakers are busy turning China into test track central, but Milford may be passed by a German track. (Read More…)

Being at odds with its number one trading partner Japan at the moment, China shows that it doesn’t have to be the big bully, and that it can make nice with other former enemies if it feels like it.  China gave a surprising regulatory nod to a joint venture between Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover and Chery. If you think they were long married, then you are right. They said yes a while ago. However,  in China, a joint venture is not really a joint venture unless the National Development and Reform Commission (and sundry other bureaucracies) have given their nod, and did put their chop on the contract. (Read More…)

China’s Hawtai was quick to cash in on the nationalistic sentiments in China with its Hawtai Baolige Patriotic Edition. According to Carnewschina, the Patriotic Edition “is painted in China-red, with five yellow stars as in the Chinese flag and some waves around the rear wheels that likely refer to the disputed islands.” The trucklet is 100% Nippon-free, as far as we can tell. (Read More…)

“’Even if China becomes nothing but tombstones, we must exterminate the Japanese; even if we have to destroy our own country, we must take back the Diaoyu Islands.”

With the appropriate attention received, China is ready to ratchet down anti-Japanese sentiment. Beijing public security authorities on Wednesday urged the public not to stage protests against Japan, writes The Nikkei [sub]. Chinese dealers of the Volkswagen Group did not get the memo. They cause major trouble for Volkswagen. Especially in Japan. (Read More…)

BMW visits CH-Auto

History tends to repeat itself – in different ways. One of the secrets of Japanese quality was a shortage of money. Bad quality was seen as waste – known as the detested “muda” to scholars of Kaizen. Lines had to be made more flexible; re-tooling had to be made easier, all because there was no money to waste. Likewise, China is getting better at making cars. One reason: It’s getting better at cutting corners, says a report by Reuters. (Read More…)

Most Japanese carmakers temporarily closed their Chinese factories on the anniversary date of Japan’s pre-war invasion of China.

This follows violent riots across China.
(Read More…)

Around 1,000 Chinese fishing boats are bearing down on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, while Japanese carmakers in China are buttoning-up their Chinese car factories. (Read More…)

President Barack Obama will carry a familiar gift to election rallies in Ohio today.

“The Obama administration will announce a trade complaint against China today as President Barack Obama campaigns in Ohio, alleging impermissible subsidies of auto- and auto-parts exports that encourage outsourcing to China from the U.S.” an administration official told Bloomberg.     (Read More…)

Daimler, or rather one of its Chinese customers, is paying late penance for the ill-fated merger with Chrysler. A Chinese patriot proudly presented this trophy on Weibo, the Chinese version of the (blocked in China) Twitter. He said he took it off a “Japanese Mitsubishi” which he savaged in rage against Japan’s occupation of the Diaoyu islands.

Mitsubishi Motors fell into the hands of Daimler through the merger with Chrysler. After that fell apart. Mitsubishi soon was back on its own. (Read More…)

GM is smarter than Ford when it comes to exploiting rich Chinese, says Tycho de Feyter of Carnewschina. While GM sells is Camaro in China for a whopping $72,000 on up, Ford is leaving money on the table and profits to grey importers. (Read More…)

Anti-Japanese demonstrations grew ugly in China over the weekend, and it were cars that took the brunt. Chinese took to the streets after Tokyo said it would nationalize the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. The uninhabited rocks are administered by Japan but claimed by China.  Tens of thousands protested this weekend – and vented their rage on cars.

One  of the first victims was a Honda CR-V, oddly owned by the police in the southern city of Shenzhen. Shenzhen’s finest were unable to protect their property.

As it becomes increasingly dangerous to own a Japanese car in China, people devise unorthodox ways to protect their cherished car. (Read More…)

The car show in Haikou on the Chinese island of Hainan is small as far as car shows go. Organizers had to try harder to attract visitors. Or, being small, they had to save money, and they decided to spare the garments of their female product specialists. They appeared covered in not much more than flowers.

Caution, the following pictures could be considered as offensive and NSFW in Sharia jurisdictions and parts of America, but have become quite common in officially still communist China.   (Read More…)