Short news automotive
Oct-27-2011 By : agxadmin
- Anhui Ankai Automobile Co signed a contract with Britain’s Big Bus Tours sightseeing company to export 34 red open-top double-decker buses, which will be used for sightseeing tours during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. It will be the first time double-decker buses made in China will enter the UK market. Ankai has already assembled a sample bus, which has obtained approval from both Big Bus Tours and British automobile certification authorities.
- Swiss engineering group and car parts supplier Georg Fischer aims to more than double sales in China in five years to about CNY7 billion. The company’s GF AgieCharmilles machine tools unit inaugurated a new CNY80 million plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.
- China’s new CNY3,000 subsidy for fuel-efficient vehicles will benefit 26 models after the government this month imposed a more stringent requirement. The subsidy applies to cars weighing 1,205-1,320 kilograms and consuming no more than 6.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, lower from the previous 6.9-liter threshold. Shanghai General Motors has nine models in the new subsidy category, including the Chevrolet Sail and Chevrolet Aveo.
- Toyota plans to start selling plug-in hybrid and electric cars in China in 2013, in competition with Volkswagen and General Motors. The company did not specify which model would be introduced to China. Toyota will start construction of its USD689 million wholly-owned research and development center in Changshu, Jiangsu province, which is expected to focus on hybrid electric vehicles.
- The Beijingnumber-plate lottery, which limits the number of new cars on the capital’s roads to 17,600 a month, will not apply to individuals who buy electric cars in the near future because the government wants to encourage the use of greener vehicles. The city’s 12th Five Year Plan for the car industry, which is expected to be released soon, is likely to include such a provision.
- The average car plate price in Shanghai increased in October to CNY54,008, CNY1,386 more than in September. The lowest price rose CNY1,600 to CNY53,800. Prices have increased every month this year. The average price this month was the third highest on record. About 9,000 car plates were available for auction, down 500 from September. The number of bidders in October fell below 20,000 for the first time this year.
- China may postpone the publishing of its blueprint for fuel-efficient and new energy vehicles to next year. The industry guideline for 2011 to 2020, is expected to expand from its previous focus on pure electric cars to include energy-saving models with support on research and development (R&D) as well as purchase subsidies.
- Nissan Motors’s first China design center in Beijing has recently started full operations, developing vehicle designs for both the Nissan and Infiniti brands. About 20 designers now work in the Beijing Center, most of whom are Chinese employees. Nissan now has five design centers worldwide, with two in Japan, one in the United States and another in the United Kingdom.
- Volkswagen reported auto sales in China increased 14.6% to a record high of 1.69 million units for the first nine months of this year. Sales of VW branded vehicles rose 11% to 1.29 million units. Sales of Audi increased to 226,000 units during the first three quarters, surpassing full year sales of 2010.
- Porsche expects China will become its largest market by late 2014. First-half sales grew 50% to 12,267 units, making China the second largest market for Porsche worldwide, trailing only the United States. A “World of Porsche” branding campaign was recently held at the Porsche Center Puxi to help customers become more familiar with the brand’s history, product line-ups, services and racing heritage.
- Avis said it plans to invest CNY2.5 billion in China in the next five years. The investment will allow the company to expand its short-term leasing car fleet by 10 times to 15,000 vehicles by 2016, according to Terence Chiu, General Manager of Anji Car Rental and Leasing Co, Avis Europe’s venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Sales Co. The business-rental fleet will expand to 10,000 units, up from the current 4,000 units. Competition from domestic rivals has intensified recently.
- September vehicle sales in China turned out stronger than expected with volumes up 8% year-on-year to 1.6 million units, the second highest this year. Sales of passenger cars totaled 1.2 million units, up 12% from a year ago. Exports in the first nine months of the year totaled 345,000 units, exceeding the previous highest annual export volume recorded in 2008. Growing sales in emerging markets are driving the demand.
Audit Office checks steel sector’s adjustment plan
By : agxadmin
The National Audit Office (NAO) is investigating major domestic steelmakers’ implementation of a nationwide adjustment and revival plan in the steel sector between June and November this year. The investigation comes in the last year of the three-year revival plan the Chinese government announced in March 2009 amid the steel sector’s worsening situation caused by the global financial crisis. Under the plan, Chinese steelmakers must make structural adjustments and industrial upgrades to off set the effect of an industrywide downturn, and to increase attention in the domestic market after a previous focus on exports. In June, the NAO appointed three audit offices to survey three state-owned steel companies ― Baoshan Iron and Steel Group Corp (Baosteel), Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp, and Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corp. The on-site audits are scheduled to conclude in November. The NAO will also investigate the supply of iron ore and try to improve the price negotiation mechanism.
China copper inventories stand at 1.9 million tons
By : agxadmin
China has for the first time revealed the estimated size of its copper inventories, shedding light on one of the commodity market’s biggest mysteries. Chinese copper inventories stood at 1.9 million tons at the end of 2010, more than the U.S. consumes in a year, according to estimates by the state-backed China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA). The estimate is significantly higher than the 1.0 million to 1.5 million tons range that foreign executives have assumed in the past. The estimates were announced at a meeting of the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) in Lisbon at the end of September, but they have not been made public. Movements in Chinese inventories are one of the most important price drivers for the global copper market. A buying spree in early 2009 by the country, which now accounts for about 40% of global copper demand, helped trigger a price rally from the lows of the financial crisis to new records this year above USD10,000 a ton. The CNIA estimated that Chinese copper stocks, not including those kept at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) warehouses, stood at 1.768 million tons at the end of 2010, up from 1.218 million in 2009 and 282,000 in 2008. SHFE inventories were 132,000 tons in 2010, putting China’s total stocks at 1.9 million tons. Analysts say China has an interest in inflating the size of its stockpiles to push prices down. They say China releases only sketchy information about its supply, demand and inventories, creating a statistical vacuum that is contributing to price volatility, the Financial Times reports.
Anshan eyes USD2 billion steel plant in India
By : agxadmin
Anshan Iron and Steel is studying the feasibility of a USD2 billion steel plant in India to make 2 million to 3 million tons of steel a year in what would be the first move into the country by a large Chinese steel producer. President Zhang Xiaogang told the Financial Times that having an involvement in India – probably as part of collaboration with other steel producers – was part of his effort to make Anshan the “most competitive steelmaker in the world” over the next five to 10 years. “I feel that by collaborating with other companies we can both become more global and improve in terms of the efficiency of our operations,” said Zhang in an interview at a steel conference in Paris organized by the World Steel Association (WSA), of which he is poised to become the Chairman. He did not provide more details. Anshan is China’s seventh biggest steelmaker. Last year, China produced almost 630 million tons of steel – making the country the biggest steel producing and consuming nation with almost half of total world output. In contrast India – with a similar population to China – produced 67 million tons of steel in 2010. Anshan is already involved in plans in the U.S. to build at least four steel plants in collaboration with Steel Development, a start-up business. The first of these is due to be a USD150 million mill in North Carolina where Anshan would have a stake of about 15%, the Financial Times reports.
Baotou Steel suspends rare earth production
By : agxadmin
China’s biggest producer of rare earths suspended production at its processing plants for one month. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co, said the move is aimed at warding off a plunge in prices and stabilizing the market. During the suspension period, the company will stop supplying raw materials to its smelting and separation plants and to partners of those companies. “It’s the right decision to absorb inventory overstock after a rapid decline in demand over recent months caused by skyrocketing prices, some having risen fourfold this year,” said Liu Minda, Analyst at Huatai Securities Co. Figures compiled by Shanghai Metals Market show that the average prices of rare-earth oxides declined by more than 20% during the three months ending October 17. “Processing plants have to cut production to keep prices from falling,” said Wei Chishan, Researcher at Shanghai Metals Market. China set a production ceiling of 93,000 tons of rare earth elements for this year. The central government’s total export quota for this year is 30,194 tons, slightly lower than 2010’s 30,258 tons, the China Daily reports.
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