Archive for the ‘Industry’ Category
Nissan Leaf to Arrive in China next year
Published on August 9, 2010 by Tycho
Nissan will start selling the full-electric Leaf in China next year. No plans for local production, the vehicle will be imported from Japan. In China it is called 聆风, Ling Feng, Listen [to the] Wind. Price yet unknown but with a 60.000 yuan (8800 USD) subsidy from the Chinese government it might end up around 250.000 yuan.
Even with that bonus I don’t think the Leaf will be a succes. There is no infrastructure for electric cars in China, except a few pilot projects, and Chinese houses aren’t made to charge a car at home. Most Chinese city-folk live in high-rise appartments with a car park in the basement and those don’t have the infrastructure either. People in the countryside can never afford a Leaf.
Nissan knows all this, the Leaf isn’t mean to sell. It is meant to show the Chinese and especially the Chinese government what Nissan can do and wants to do for a greener China. Basically so, the Leave is an expensive p.r. project.
Categories: Industry
Tags: leaf, nissan
No Comments
GM working on Electric Chevrolet Sail for China
Published on August 9, 2010 by Tycho
Mr Kevin E. Wale, president of GM China, told magazine Beijing Morning Post that Shanghai-GM is working on a electric Chevrolet Sail which will debut this year. A concept still but very likely to see production in the near future. Mr Wale also unveiled that GM China is working on a hybrid Buick Lacrosse, to be released in 2011. [file photo]
Source: Beijing Morning Post via CNauto.
Categories: Industry, Shanghai-GM
Tags: chevrolet, sail
1 Comment
China auto sales, output to exceed 15m in 2010
Published on August 5, 2010 by Tycho
From ChinaDaily, 040810. BEIJING – China’s annual production and sales of new autos will both surpass 15 million vehicles this year, Dong Yang, secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, said Wednesday.
Auto sales in China continued to rise in July, though at a slower pace than in previous months. The growth rate slowed from 124 percent in January to 40 percent in April, to 17.18 percent in July.
Rapid growth in auto sales during the first several months of 2010 was due to last year’s low comparison base and it was not representative of the true picture in the industry, Dong said at a press conference.
Categories: Industry
Tags: sales
No Comments
Ford’s China sales fall in July
Published on August 3, 2010 by Tycho
From ChinaDaily, 030810. BEIJING – Ford Motor Co on Tuesday reported its China sales for July that represented a fall from last year, the first major automaker to suffer a decline on China market.
Ford said July sales totaled 18,255 vehicles. It gave no growth rate but the figure would be a 6.3 percent decline from July 2009 sales of 19,486 units reported earlier.
Automakers are looking to China, the biggest auto market by number of vehicles sold, to drive revenues amid weak global demand. But growth has fallen since last year, when Beijing boosted demand with tax cuts and subsidies.
Categories: Chang'an-Ford, Industry
Tags: sales
No Comments
GM’s July China sales rise 22% amid Chevrolet growth
Published on August 3, 2010 by Tycho
From ChinaDaily, 030810. General Motors Co boosted sales in China 22 percent in July, aided by the popularity of Chevrolet cars, while deliveries by Ford Motor Co’s local sales unit fell.
GM sold 176,645 vehicles last month in the world’s largest auto market, after boosting deliveries of Chevrolet vehicles 70 percent to 35,385, the company said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. Sales of GM-brand vehicles rose 45 percent to 1.3 million in the first seven months of the year, it added.
The carmaker is counting on expansion in China and other overseas markets to bolster profit as it prepares for an initial public offering as early as the fourth quarter. GM’s first-half sales in China surpassed those in the US for the first time this year as the world’s fastest-growing major economy propelled global auto demand.
Categories: Industry, Shanghai-GM
Tags: sales
No Comments
China’s auto sales up 17% year-on-year in July
Published on August 2, 2010 by Tycho
From ChinaDaily, 020810. BEIJING – Retail sales of China-made autos rose 17.18 percent year on year to 1.056 million units in July, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center said in a statement Monday.
July sales were down 6.7 percent from June, the statement said, adding that the figure brought auto sales in the first seven months to more than 8.24 million units, up 28.58 percent from a year earlier.
Auto production, meanwhile, climbed 12.88 percent year on year to 1.238 million units in July. But on a month-on-month basis, the figure was down 4.34 percent from June. Production for the first seven months of the year hit 9.71 million units, up 39.42 percent year on year.
Categories: Industry
Tags: sales
No Comments
Chinese govt approves Geely’s purchase of Volvo
Published on July 30, 2010 by Tycho
From: ChinaDaily, 300710. BEIJING – Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co is expected to complete it takeover of Swedish luxury car brand Volvo from US automaker Ford Motor Co on Monday after getting government approval for the deal.
Ministry of Commerce officials told China Daily on Thursday that the government cleared the Volvo deal on Monday 26, after the National Development and Reform Commission cleared the proposal last week.
Geely has also got the necessary anti-trust approvals from the European Union and the US government for the deal. “With this the decks are now clear for Geely to complete its acquisition of Volvo and start manufacturing the brand in China,” said Wang Zhile, director of the research center on transnational corporations under the Ministry of Commerce.
Yuan Xiaolin, Geely’s spokesman for the Volvo deal was unavailable on Thursday for comment. However, unnamed sources from Geely told China Daily that the Zhejiang-based automaker will hold a formal function on Monday to complete the deal.
Categories: Geely, Industry
Tags: take over
No Comments
Carmaker [Chery] denies spy charge
Published on July 27, 2010 by Tycho
Chery is in trouble and it loox like US prosecutors will go to the bottom of it. Read on for excellent background article about the case from GlobalTimes, a Chinese government owned magazine:
“China’s largest [independent, domestic] automaker, Chery International, denied charges Monday by US prosecutors who are accusing it of stealing millions of dollars worth of clean energy technology from former engineers of US auto giant General Motors.
The intensified wrangling comes as the US auto industry attempts to recover from poor fiscal performances and shrinking sales.
And analysts are warning Chinese automakers to take intellectual property rights more seriously when competing with their foreign counterparts, as the Chinese firms are vying for more market share worldwide after the country’s car market was crowned the world’s largest last year, surpassing that of the United States.
Categories: Chery, Industry
Tags: ip
No Comments
VW-China bosses perish in high-speed road crash
Published on July 20, 2010 by Tycho
From ChinaDaily, 200710. SHANGHAI – The general manager of Shanghai Volkswagen and three other high-ranking managers were killed in a horrific traffic accident on Saturday during a business trip to Jiuquan in Northwest China’s Gansu province, according to a company statement on Monday.
General manager Liu Jian, 45, and public relations director Zeng Jialin, along with two other top executives, were on their way to a meeting when their company-owned Tiguan SUV smashed into a truck and exploded barely 2 km from the Guazhou toll station, Xinhua reported on Monday.
According to the report, the SUV was traveling at 220 km per hour when it ran into the truck. The maximum driving speed allowed on China’s expressways is 120 km per hour, according to the relevant traffic regulation. The victims were in Gansu province for a company event to meet dealers and attend a test drive, the company statement said.
Categories: Industry, Shanghai-VW
Tags:
1 Comment
Chang’an-PSA to make Citroen DS4 in China (?)
Published on July 20, 2010 by Tycho
PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) and Chang’an Auto signed a joint venture agreement earlier this month. The joint venture will launch a new brand and introduce Citroen’s DS-line to China. First up could be the Citroen DS4, so far a concept only. For China it will get two more doors so families can buy it. The DS3 is likely to be made in China as well, that one will keep its 3 doors so it can compete directly with BMW’s very succesful Mini.
Categories: Chang'an-Peugeot-Citroën, Industry
Tags: ds
No Comments
