The United States will report China to the WTO tomorrow, Reuters says. The contention: China’s decision to impose extra duties on more than $3 billion worth of cars imported from the U.S. According to Reuters, “the complaint comes as President Barack Obama campaigns in Ohio, where auto plants have been affected by the duties.” The Prez goes on a “Betting on America” bus tour. (Read More…)
From London’s Telegraph to Fox News, from Autoblog to Autoguide, gullible media predicted impending doom for foreign carmakers in China. Last February, it was announced that the Chinese government will henceforth only buy Chinese cars. This was seen as a blow especially to Audi. China’s Global Times calls an Audi A6 “Chinese officialdom’s vehicle of choice,” and it was predicted that the officialdom will henceforth have to make do with Roewes and Geelys. Why am I reminded of that story?
Audi’s sales in China are up 37.8 percent for the first six months of the year. (Read More…)
The sprawling city Guangzhou in southern China sprung a nasty surprise on its (pop. 12.7 million citizens: it drastically slashed the number of new cars being registered. Observers predict that this move could have far-reaching consequences on the Chinese car market. (Read More…)
For two years, the world was worried about a possible rare earth shock, triggered by the crafty Chinese. As they are withholding the dirt that is essential for magnets, motors, and generators, an electrified world will go on its knees – or so the theory went.
The opposite happened. Right when everybody was ready to blame the high prices of EVs and hybrids on the Chinese, prices of rare earths crashed. Small miners went belly-up. And now, shockers of shockers, The Nikkei [sub] says that Japan found 200 years’ worth of rare earth near an island. Even bigger shocker: The island is not on the China side of Japan, it’s in the Pacific. (Read More…)
Italy’s Fiat, late to the Chinese party, finally opened its first plant in China today. Reuters reports that “the plant, based in Hunan province, is the latest development in a 5 billion yuan ($786.73 million) joint-venture between Fiat and GAC, China’s sixth largest auto manufacturer.” The plant also should help improving China’s dismal car export statistics. (Read More…)
While other carmakers are treading water or worse, BMW’s global sales were up 9.1 percent for the first five months of the year, mostly on strong gains in China. That party is about to end, claims Citi Investment Research and downgraded BMW AG from “buy” to “neutral,” Reuters reports.
In the euphemistic world of stock analysts, a “neutral” usually means a sell. (Read More…)
Honda is mining for rare earth in unusual places: In cars.
Honda has been extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries since April. Today, the company announced it will begin reusing the extracted metals before the end of 2012. (Read More…)
Carnewschina spotted this Panther with a – shall we say – unique paint scheme in Shanghai. Black was not enough for this Town Car. Gold was not enough for this Town Car. It needed to be orange-gold on black. Use eye protection, and don’t stare at the picture for too long. (Read More…)
The previous BYD F3 was known as a more than blatant copy of the Toyota Corolla. Many buyers pay a small extra fee to have (fake) Toyota badges affixed, making the F3 nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. The next generation BYD F3 wants to be known for groundbreaking innovation: The car will be remote controlled. (Read More…)
“An almost 100% perfect copy of the Volkswagen Amarok, which is actually and only made in Argentina” has been spotted in China by Carnewschina. The Hengtian T3 will slot above the Hengtian T1. That one drew its design cues from Chevy trucks, now it’s Volkswagen’s turn to inspire. (Read More…)
Lotus may not have been sold to the Chinese (yet) but someone else was. And they’ve been making cars for over a year. Supposedly, they’re not bad to drive either.
TTAC’s patent-pending China sales oracle is back to old form again. A few days ago, GM China reported a May sales increase of 21.3 percent. Today, China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced its official numbers, and sales are reported to be up 22.6 percent in May. (Read More…)
Even after its death, Saab is still good for some excitement. Today, the Wall Street Journal breathlessly reported that an “electric-vehicle consortium buys Saab assets.” When you click on the link in Google, you get your assets handed to you via a rude 404: Page not found. The same is happening with many sites that reported a sale of Saab’s assets to a company called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which is as Swedish as chopsticks.
What is behind those missing links? Who is the nice man who goes thumbs up next to China Communist Party Polit Bureau member Li Keqiang? And why has he allegedly just bought Saab? (Read More…)
Did you hear the one about Opel’s latest scheme to stave off disaster? Don’t read this article while driving or operating heavy machinery.
Opel wants to sell 30,000 cars in China – eventually. Or rather “step by step,” as Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke told Germany’s Handelsblatt today. (Not on-line, therefore via Reuters.) This is not the first time Opel had announced plans for China. (Read More…)
China’s car dealers’ “backs are broken,” Luo Lei, deputy secretary general of the China Automobile Dealers Association told Bloomberg. “Dealers can’t shoulder the burden anymore.” They are overstuffed with cars. Average inventory at Chinese dealerships stands at more than two months of sales at the end of May up from a 45 day inventory by the end of April. It could be worse: In America, inventories are way ahead of China.
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