“The next 24 months will be tough for us,” said Soh Weiming, Volkswagen’s company’s executive president for China, to Bloomberg. Is Volkswagen running scared in China? Will the bubble finally burst? Soh Weiming is worried. (Read More…)

Never say die: Daimler announced today that Mercedes-Benz production will reach a new record level of more than 1.2 million cars this year, exceeding the pre-carmageddon records of 1.19 million cars produced in 2008, Dow Jones Newswire reports. (Read More…)

We have covered the Governator wooing not-so-gloriously-doing BYD to come to California, well, at least with a headquarter building. We were also interested to hear that BYD “is in talks with officials in Los Angeles to supply all-electric battery buses in the city.”

The Wall Street Journal revisited old investigative reporting glory and did some thorough digging into the matter. And here is what transpired, all as per the WSJ: (Read More…)

There is considerable new construction in Bahovista, Bulgaria, in what the New York Times calls a “goat-trodden village in the foothills of the Balkans.” China’s Great Wall and Bulgarian wrestler Grisha Ganchev have teamed up to build an assembly plant which, if the NYT is right,  “should begin turning out the first Chinese-branded cars in the European Union,” sometime next summer. Which ones? Wait, we’ll get there … (Read More…)

Today, Bloomberg delights its readers with the news that “General Motors Co.’s passenger-car venture in China sold its millionth unit this year, becoming the first carmaker to reach that sales level in the world’s largest auto market.” Spinmeistery at maximum revolutions.

Just a few days ago, the same Bloomberg had this story: (Read More…)

For the past two weeks, China’s capital had been awash in rumors that it would use stern methods to stamp out rampant car growth. Most popular rumor: A one car policy. Only one per resident. There are 4.7 million cars in Beijing and 22 million people. That disparity did not allay the worries of motorized Beijingers. They want their two cars just like they want their two kids. A run on the showrooms ensued, dealers ran out of cars.

In numbers: The city of  Beijing usually registers 1000 cars a day. Lately, that number had risen to 2000 a day. The rumors caused panic buying. During the week from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, “Beijing had 21,000 new cars on the roads, translating to 3,000 more cars per day,” reports People’s Daily. To curb car growth caused by car growth curbing rumors, the city had to do something fast. And they did. (Read More…)

Kevin Wale, head of GM China, confirmed what we had intimated a month ago: GM wants to give their Chinese joint venture partner SAIC access to GM’s sales network in the UK. “We have agreed in an MOU that we would discuss the potential for MG to be distributed in the UK,” said Wale to Reuters.

If the deal is signed, it would be unprecedented. (Read More…)

China’s BYD needs good news real bad. The Chinese market for EVs is … what Chinese market for EVs? And wasn’t their E6 coming to the U.S.? Whatever happened to that? That’s what we get from investors brought to California by the Governator. Oh well, Jerry Brown instead. In the meantime (as in “mean”), Nissan delivers its first real Leaf to California man. BYD will sink into irrelevance, unless they come up with something, fast.

Suddenly, they have a swell idea. Something way bigger than cars. (Read More…)

Chinese car sales were strong this year, increasing by 34.1% in the first 11 months of this year according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the WSJ. But those numbers have largely been driven by government incentives on cars with 1.6 liter engines or smaller, a segment that accounts for some 70 percent of the passenger car market. But, according to the CAAM

China will likely extend one incentive for small-car purchases–a cash subsidy of CNY3,000 a car for purchases of certain fuel-efficient vehicles with 1.6-liter or smaller engines. The purchase tax for small cars, however, will likely rise to 10% from the special low rate of 7.5% currently

Moreover, some cities (including Beijing) could start regulating the number of car puchases allowed, and this combined with a reduction in subsidy levels could cause sales to start declining.

(Read More…)

Passenger car sales in China jumped 29.3 in November as people rushed to lock in incentives set to expire at the end of the year. Demand will most likely be even stronger in December. In November, the end of the incentives was just a rumor. A few days ago, the end of government handouts became official, and  dealers already ran out of cars. (Read More…)

TTAC has been keeping an eye on China’s near-monopoly on the rare earth compounds required to build hybrid and electric cars for some time now, and we’ve seen the materials become an increasingly controversial issue, culminating in this year’s diplomatic tiff between China and Japan. But, as Bertel has pointed out,

That the Chinese have a stranglehold on rare earth is not because they are the only ones who are are sitting on it. It’s due to laziness and lack of money.

Now, Toyota Tsusho (a partially-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Company), has announced plans to stop being lazy and spend money on a rare earth materials plant in the Indian state of Orissa. Tsusho says the factory should come online in 2012, and should produce 3,000-4,000 metric tons of the magnet-hardening materials. Meanwhile, Japanese firms aren’t limiting their search for rare earth materials to India. Bloomberg notes

The shortage in rare earths has brought delegations from Canada, Mongolia and Bolivia to Japan in the past two weeks as these countries promote themselves as alternative sources to China.

GM’s attempt to sell cars via eBay resulted in 45 cars sold in the first nine days. A month later, the idea was abandoned. I wonder why. A few weeks ago, Kia said they would try eBay. No word yet on any results. Now, China’s Geely joins the on-line fray. (Read More…)

It was supposed the car that changes the game. The BYD F3e was touted as an EV with a range of 300km (186 miles). It was supposed to have a miracle battery with a recharge-time (to 70 percent) of only ten minutes. At the same time, it promised a top speed of 150km/h (93 mph) and a 0 to 60 mph time of less than 13.5seconds. What’s less, the car was supposed to cost no more than $22,400. And the government was willing to grant generous subsidies. How can you go wrong with something like that? You can: That car will not see the light and is being aborted by its Chinese parents. Why? (Read More…)

China’s car dealers will be mobbed tomorrow, and the run on the lots will last until the end of the year. Shanghai Daily [sub] reports that it is now – semi – official that the Chinese government “will cancel the preferential purchase tax for vehicles with engines under 1.6 liters on January 1 next year.” Shanghai Daily has it from Xiaoxiang Daily News, which heard it from an unidentified official with the National Development and Reform Commission. But it will be enough to incite a stampede to lock in the savings while they last. (Read More…)

Toyota looks very cautiously into the future. This is the bottom line of an article that just appeared in the Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese. You just have to trust me, or rather Frau Schmitto-san, who provided the translation.) According to the piece, Toyota downrevised its projection for the 2011 fiscal year (starting April 1 2011) to 7.8 million for Toyota alone, excluding Daihatsu and Hino. With those two backed in, total worldwide production of TMC would be around 8.8 million. Meaning: Until further notice, Toyota’s world is pretty much flat. (Read More…)