China’s Changan could make an own-brand car, based on technology acquired from joint venture partner Ford, says Automotive News [sub]. It would likely be a mid-sized sedan, based on a Ford platform. It would be produced in Changan’s plant in Nanjing, near Shanghai. (Read More…)
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GM and Ford reported new monthly record sales in China, says the usually reliable government-owned China Daily. Really?
Ford said its China sales rose 17.8 percent. Ford is a relative nobody in China. File under “never mind.”
GM China’s May numbers are much more remarkable. They need to be carefully read. Tread carefully: Cleverly hidden landmines ahead! (Read More…)
China is an important market for Daimler. China already buys more S-Class cars than any other country. Why not buy a chunk of Daimler and get it over with? The Chinese would find open doors: Daimler’s CFO Bodo Uebber “would welcome it if there are Chinese names in our shareholder structure.” (Read More…)
Got a nice empty property in an industrial park in Germany? Centrally located, close to a major airport like Frankfurt, or Munich would be a plus? Then we know some Chinese you may want to talk to. They are in Shenzhen and work for BYD. BYD is coming to Europe. And they want to put their European HQ right into the German hornet’s nest. (Read More…)
Customizing their own cars is the latest trend amongst carmakers. Now available at Shanghai Baozen Zhonghuan Automobile Sales and Service Co, an authorized BMW dealer in Shanghai: A 3-Series, blinged out with Swarovski crystals. On hearing the news, Global Times, the usually sedate English-typing sister publication of the usually very sedate party organ Peoples’ Daily, couldn’t help it and headlines: “BMW adds sparkle.” (Read More…)
Chinese cars were rumored of having arrived a long time ago here in Brazil. They’ve been talked about for years. Dealerships were rumored to be opening up right and left. Like in other markets, it was a Chinese chimera. Granted, you could spot a smattering of vans, or maybe a light delivery truck, parked or puttering along here in Brazil, but again, when you took a longer look, more often than not, you’d see that what you thought were the long-rumored Chinese cars was actually a Hyundai or Kia product, mistake as a Chinese. You know, those Asians, they all look alike.
They are here now. By God, I have proof! I swear that when I saw it I was so shocked I took a picture. (Read More…)
China has finally revealed its worst kept secret and announced a pilot program for five Chinese cities. It’s raining cash for buyers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. And it “reflects Beijing’s resolve to foster domestic brands,” says Reuters.
Really? At first glance, there is no discrimination against laowei cars. (Read More…)
Everybody is waiting for a sign of the Chinese car boom to go ka-boom. Bloomberg aims to please, and has the story that Chinese “passenger-car sales growth slowed in May as falling stock prices eroded wealth and consumer prices rose in the world’s largest automobile market.” Bloomberg is alarmed that growth was only 25 percent. Let’s have a look. (Read More…)
Coda Automotive may not be claiming to have paid back the US government, but this video [via greencarreports] sure is one of the more misleading spots we’ve seen in a while. The term “all-American innovation” probably does great with focus groups, but it’s hardly an accurate description for a rolling-chassis Chinese sedan with some Chinese-made (unless the DOE gives Coda a loan for US cell manufacturing) lithium-ion cells bunged into it somewhere in California. Likewise, the fact that internal combustion engines operate at relatively low efficiency is fascinating, but it’s hardly relevant to potential customers. Especially considering this Coda EV is likely to cost about $45k before tax breaks. At that price point, a Chinese-market sedan should run at 110 percent efficiency, and be powered by melted-down AMG tires. And its makers should still have the decency to admit that, like so much in life, we’re entirely dependent on the Chinese to actually build the damn thing.
Production at the Honda parts factory in Foshan, China, partially resumed this Chinese afternoon after Honda offered to increase the wages of striking workers by 366 yuan ($54) a month, company officials told The Nikkei [sub]. This reflects a pay hike of 20 percent. (Read More…)
Over the next few years, life in the UK is going to be pretty – austere. The Centre-Right government has been in power barely a month, and already they’ve slashed the budget by £6.2 billion. That was just the scalpel, wait till the axe comes. So, with a possible second recession in the offing, it’s time for some good news. And here it is… (Read More…)
The strike at Honda’s transmission factory in China that has led to the closure of all Honda sites in China shows no sign of resolution. Actually, there is a new twist: Management is leaning on school interns not to strike, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reports. Why the sudden focus on interns? (Read More…)
The PT Cruiser lit the world on fire … then it fizzled. The new Beetle put a bug under many people’s bonnet – now it’s marked for extinction. That doesn’t deter Saab’s new owner Victor Muller of Spyker to think about a re-make of the legendary teardrop-shaped Saab 92 that was in production from 1949 to 1956. (Read More…)
Someone is in a big hurry: In March, Daimler and BYD signed an agreement to develop an all electric vehicle “specific to the requirements of the Chinese market.” Usually, it takes a while until something comes from these announcements, especially in China, where everything needs a lot of big red chops. Much to our surprise, we hear that BYD and Daimler signed the contract today to form a 50:50 joint venture for the aforementioned purpose. (Read More…)
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