Short news automotive
Jun-05-2014 By : Gwenda
- Jebsen Automotive Technik (JAT), which has three joint ventures in Dalian, recently announced plans to open a fourth one. JAT expects 15% to 20% growth this year. JAT’s business is helping major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) localize domestic production. Jebsen TCG Automotive Systems, JAT’s second joint venture in Dalian, with TCG Unitech of Austria, develops and manufactures oil pump systems. Jebsen is also an expert in the distribution of luxury cars, including the Porsche brand. The company currently has eight Porsche centers in China.
- Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and its local joint venture Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co announced the establishment of an integrated marketing, sales and service organization. It will be responsible for the development and distribution of the Jaguar, Land Rover and Chery Jaguar Land Rover brands in China. Lu Yi, Chief of Staff at Jaguar Land Rover China, was appointed President of the sales organization. In the first quarter, Jaguar Land Rover China’s sales surged 36% year-on-year to 29,500 units.
- Chinese automotive company BAW South Africa aims to overtake Toyota Motor in the fast-growing South African taxi minibus market. Its 16-seater Sasuka minibus has become popular for reliability and affordability. BAW South Africa is a joint venture between Beijing Automotive Works Co, the Industrial Development Corp of South Africa and China Africa Motors. It was set up in November 2012 to assemble minibus taxis on a semi-knocked-down basis. The Industrial Development Corp of South Africa estimates that annual taxi sales in South Africa will reach 28,000 units next year. Toyota sells 1,100 minibuses every month in South Africa, while BAW South Africa’s sales average about 200.
- From September, owners of new cars will no longer have to have their cars inspected for roadworthiness every two years in the first six-year period, the Ministry of Public Security announced. After six years, annual checks up to the age of 15 years are required, six-monthly checks after that, and checks every three months if the vehicle is still on the road after 20 years. The private sector can now also apply for licenses to run test centers. By the end of 2013, there were around 250 million vehicles on the road and every year an estimated 15 million new cars join them.
- About 200 million Chinese now use e-bikes, a 1,000-fold increase from 15 years ago. About 90% of the world’s e-bikes were sold in China in 2012, according to Navigant Research, a consulting firm, which estimates that another 249 million will be sold there by 2020. They offer a convenient mode of transportation to beat traffic jams but are also responsible for an increasing number of road accidents.
- Lu Guanqiu, Chairman and founder of Wanxiang Group, which took over Fisker Automotive Holdings, plans to manufacture electric cars in the U.S. and ultimately in China. The Fisker estate included an abandoned General Motors plant in Delaware, providing Wanxiang an entry point for selling and manufacturing cars in the U.S.
- The Shanghai government has extended its incentive program for buyers of environment-friendly cars until the end of next year. Under the scheme, anyone who buys a pure-electric or plug-in hybrid car in Shanghai will be entitled to a subsidy of CNY40,000 or CNY30,000, respectively. Buyers will also be entitled to a free license plate, worth about CNY70,000 at auction.
- BYD Co is offering USD400 million in new Hong Kong-listed shares. The funds would give Shenzhen-based BYD room to step up investments and bolster production of electric vehicles. The sale comes after BYD reported profit tumbled 89% in the first quarter because of declining demand for its gasoline-fueled vehicles. Last year, profit jumped almost seven-fold after Chairman Wang Chuanfu completed a three-year reorganization during which he cut the number of dealerships and narrowed the losses of its solar business.
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favor of the United States in a dispute with China over duties on car imports from the U.S. The U.S. in July 2012 filed a WTO complaint seeking to offset Chinese duties on more than USD3 billion worth of car imports from the U.S. The Chinese government had alleged that the U.S. industry gained an unfair edge in trade by using government subsidies and selling the goods in China below their value, a practice known as dumping. Two months later, the U.S. filed the second WTO case against China alleging the Beijing government subsidized its own car and car-parts makers in violation of global trade rules.
- The success rate among people bidding for private car license plates in Shanghai fell to a record low of 6.5% in the May auction. Of the 114,121 people who took part in the auction, just 7,400 secured a plate, for which they paid an average of CNY74,503 – up CNY390 from April – with the lowest winning bid being CNY74,400. The number of available plates was 700 less than the previous month.
- Chinese automakers SAIC Motor Corp, Dongfeng Motor Group, Great Wall Motors, BYD, Chang’an Automobile Group and Guangzhou Automobile Group are on the 2014 Forbes Global 2,000 list, a ranking of the world’s largest public companies rated by a composite score of revenues, profits, assets and market value. The latter two are on the list for the first time.
- Battery and car manufacturer BYD announced on May 21 that it plans to invest CNY3 billion in a new plant in Wuhan to build new-energy vehicles. The plant is designed to have an annual production capacity of 1,000 all-electric buses in the first phase, and will later make new-energy vehicles for logistics use.
- Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co started accepting orders for its all-electric Denza in Beijing on May 17. Eligible for the national subsidy, its price to buyers is CNY255,000. The first Denza models will be delivered to customers in October. BYD Daimler has already signed an agreement with power and automation technology group ABB for supplying direct-current fast chargers over the next six years that is expected to result in the world’s largest fast-charging network for electric vehicles.
- Volkswagen China raised awareness of safety among Chinese parents after it held a child seat program with the China Women’s Development Foundation in Beijing on May 22. The group and its joint ventures, FAW-VW and Shanghai VW, donated 320 child safety seats to new mothers and mothers-to-be in the capital through kindergartens and maternal and child care service centers. VW planned to hold similar programs in 17 cities across the country this year. More than 18,500 people under the age of 14 die in car accidents in China every year.
- BMW Brilliance Automotive rolled out the BMW 328i xDrive, BMW 328Li xDrive and the new BMW 528Li xDrive with six different specifications in Shenyang, Liaoning province. It is the first time BMW has offered its most intelligent all-wheel-drive technology on locally produced sedans, covering both the 3 and 5 Series. Prices for the cars range from CNY458,800 to CNY645,600. More than 340,000 of the current 5 Series were sold in China since it launched in August 2010. In the first four months of this year, sales of the 3 Series increased 45.7% from a year ago to 31,134 units and those of the 5 Series rose 17.2% to 47,198 units.
- China is scrapping more than 5 million cars that fail to meet national emission standards this year as part of its efforts to clean up the country’s air. The target for Beijing is 330,000 cars and for Shanghai 160,000. Cars that fail to meet minimum National I emission standards accounted for 7.8% of cars on China’s roads but generated more than 35% of the main air pollutants.
- Shanghai is to pay city bus companies from CNY150,000 to CNY550,000 for each energy-saving or new-energy vehicle they purchase, depending on the model. In addition, district governments will pay subsidies of up to CNY165,000 a year for the first eight years for each new-energy bus to cover maintenance and running costs. The city government says at least 60% of new buses added to the city’s fleet should be energy-saving or new energy vehicles from this year. The city’s two main bus companies own a total of 140,000 buses.
- Shanghai extended its electric car demonstration program from Jiading district to the Pudong New Area. The Shanghai Expo EV Pilot Zone project was launched at the former Shanghai World Expo site in Pudong by State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Co, Shanghai Expo Group, and Germany’s BMW. The partners will jointly develop 50 public charging poles for the 5-square-kilometer area. Customers can test drive the BMW i3 electric car in the newly-established green zone. To date, there are eight charging poles in place in the zone.
- Consumer demand for vehicles in the next few months will be weaker than at the beginning of this year, according to the 2014 China Auto and Auto Parts report by UBS Securities Co. Passenger vehicle shipments will expand 11.8% in 2014, and sales of all types of vehicles will rise 10.7%. Production capacity for passenger vehicles will increase 12% this year. According to Fourin, a Japanese research firm specializing in the vehicle industry, there are more than 700 cars for every 100 kilometers of road in Beijing, 400 in Shanghai and 300 nationally. As the number of cars is rising faster that road length, infrastructure will be the bottleneck for the continuous rapid growth of China’s automobile industry.
Short news automotive
May-08-2014 By : agxadmin
- Shanghai became the second city in the country after Beijing to introduce the China V emission standard for new vehicles starting from April 30. Beijing was the first to put the standard into effect in March 2013. Vehicles failing to meet the strict new standard cannot be sold and registered in Shanghai after May 1. Vehicles under the new emission standard will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 25% to 43% compared to the previous standard. Shanghai will also ban about 120,000 yellow-label, or heavily polluting vehicles, on and within the Outer Ring Road starting from July 1.
- China’s passenger car sales still managed to live up to expectations in March with an increase of 9% from a year earlier to 1.59 million units, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said. March saw relatively few new product launches. Sales volume in the first quarter went up 9.5% year-on-year to 4.6 million units. More than 70,000 vehicles were ordered in one day in Hangzhou after the local government announced car purchase restrictions on March 25. Panic buying will add at least 500,000 vehicle sales this year, according to the CPCA. In April, more than 300 new models were unveiled at the Beijing auto show.
- Malaysia awarded a manufacturing license to a USD618 million venture that will assemble fuel-efficient SUVs for China’s Great Wall Motor Co. The license was the first issued under the country’s new auto policy unveiled in January. Privately-owned Go Automobile Manufacturing will invest USD618 million over the next four years to expand its factory in northern Kedah state. It will have a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles by 2018, with 60% of the output to be exported to Southeast Asian countries.
- Hyundai Motor has begun building a new-energy vehicle research and development (R&D) center in Yantai, Shandong province. The center will develop the three core components of new energy vehicles – motors, batteries and electric controls – and carry out overall car design. With a planned total investment of USD290 million, the center plans an annual turnover of USD100 million. Hyundai will also build a fourth China plant in Chongqing with a designed capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year.
- Lentuo International, a Beijing-based retailer of Volkswagen and Toyota cars, said it is in talks to buy dealers to expand its used-car business. The company, which has a venture with Osaka-based Itochu, is in discussions with three to four potential targets, said Founder and Chairman Guo Hetong. Used cars are typically in higher demand in smaller cities, where incomes are lower, while consumers in the larger cities prefer newer vehicles, he said. Demand for used vehicles in China is surging as its car market matures. Sales of pre-owned passenger vehicles are expected to climb six-fold to 36 million units by 2023.
- Dongguan Robstep Robot displayed the newest models of its motorized scooters, a Chinese version of America’s Segway, at the Canton Trade Fair. Robstep uses technology imported from Taiwan. The business generated about CNY80 million in revenue last year.
- Ford Motor Co unveiled its premium brand Lincoln for the first time in China at a media gathering in Beijing, marking the carmakers entry into the luxury market, which has grown enormously during the past few years. “But we still see significant growth left in the luxury market,” said John Lawler, Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor China. China’s luxury market accounts for 6% of the global market and this is expected to reach 9% in 2020, surpassing the U.S., with annual sales estimated to reach 2.7 million vehicles. Lincoln is starting in China with eight dealers in seven cities.
- A record number of motorists bid in April’s auction for Shanghai license plates. Of the 9,000 car plates, 8,200 were offered to private buyers, up 800 from last month, but the number of bidders surged more than 50% from March to 94,241. The percentage of successful bids dropped to a record low of 8.7%. The surge in demand was driven partly by owners of out-of-town registered National IV emission standard cars, which will now not be able to obtain a Shanghai car plate as the National V emission standard came into force. The average price of a car plate rose marginally to CNY74,113.
- In the first quarter of 2014, Mercedes-Benz sold 64,115 units, increasing its passenger car sales in China by 47% compared to the same period last year, a growth rate that ranks highest among German premium brands in China. The S-Class model has been particularly successful with a 26% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2014. The carmaker also launched the CLA sport sedan at the Beijing Auto Show. The C-Class Long Wheelbase also made its debut. With nearly a dozen new models to be introduced through 2015, a strong product offensive will continue to play a key role in Mercedes-Benz’ China strategy.
- Tesla Motors hopes to launch a nationwide charging and service network for its electric vehicles by 2015, CEO Elon Musk said in Beijing. Tesla will build solar-powered charging stations in Beijing and Shanghai this year and will add more stations across the country in the coming years, Musk said during his first public appearance in China. “We will make a big investment in China to make sure every buyer has a great experience,” he said. The company’s S model, equipped with an 85-kilowatt-hour battery, will be priced at CNY734,000.
- Despite the governments austerity drive, there is still room for the market of super luxury vehicles to grow. Currently, super sports cars occupied only about 0.1% of the passenger car segment, while the figure is 1% to 2% in Western countries.
- More than half a year since it began accepting orders from China, American electric carmaker Tesla made its first deliveries, as nine buyers in Beijing and seven in Shanghai received the key to their Model S from Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of Tesla. But at the same time, 23 customers protested the lack of charging infrastructure outside Beijing and Shanghai. Musk said Tesla would invest heavily in developing its own supercharger network in the country that can run on solar power and is independent of the state grid. Tesla Spokesman Simon Sproule said the company would not ship to customers in other cities until June, owing to a lack of service centers and charging tools.
- Bosch expects to continue its double-digit growth in China over the coming years. Last year, the German company posted 18% growth in China to pull in a combined revenue of CNY41.2 billion, making the country its second-largest overseas market. The sales figure includes up to CNY32 billion generated by its automotive business in the OEM supply and aftermarket, which grew 28% last year. The firm will open a new plant in Shanghai this year to localize the production of its latest turbocharging system co-developed with Mahle.
- With a joint venture plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province, set to start operation in the fourth quarter of the year, Chery Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is aiming to become the “No 1 player” in China’s premium car market-in product quality and customer experience, Chris Bryant, President of the joint venture said. The JV will also have an R&D center focusing on powertrain systems.
- The Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone (CEDZ) in Longquanyi district has become an important production base for FAW-Volkswagen, FAW Toyota, Volvo and Geely. The zone is home to 17 vehicle manufacturers and about 290 related companies that are producing catalytic converters, glass, electronic components and tires. Chengdu produced 723,000 vehicles in 2013, up 86.7% from a year earlier. The aim of the CEDZ is to manufacture 1 million vehicles annually by 2016 and 1.8 million by 2020.
- China’s private carmaker BYD Co posted a slump in first-quarter net profit of nearly 90% to CNY12 million compared to a year earlier, while revenue amounted to CNY11.7 billion, a drop of 9% from a year earlier. BYD, listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, has struggled to develop its green cars. It received a government subsidy of CNY98.4 million in the first quarter but cash flow from operating activities was a negative CNY1.1 billion.
- Vehicle leasing in China remains a largely untapped sector that lags far behind mature markets. Naeem Aftab, General Manager of NetSol Technologies, a company that provides asset finance and leasing software, said statistics from the China Leasing Union show leases of all kinds totaled CNY1.55 trillion in 2012, but only a meager CNY25.7 billion was in the auto industry. Wang Yong, General Manager of Tonbright Finance Leasing Co, said leasing accounted for 46% of total new car deliveries in the U.S. but less than 5% in China. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) estimates the market size could reach CNY525 billion by 2015.
- In April BMW Brilliance Automotive announced the start of ZINORO 1E rentals. The car is the first electric vehicle made by a premium car manufacturer in China and the only premium new energy vehicle available for rent. The ZINORO brand was developed by BMW Brilliance to create cars tailored for the Chinese market. The cost of renting a ZINORO 1E is CNY400 a day or CNY7,400 a month for rentals of three years, with license plate registration, insurance and a package of services included. The first ZINORO showroom opened in February in Beijing’s Sanlitun SOHO.
- Statistics from the China Association of Automobiles Manufacturers (CAAM) show that in 2013, China produced 14,243 electric cars and sold 14,604 units, which analysts said was mainly driven by the central government’s subsidy policy for new energy cars. China’s new energy car market is booming and saw an 87.5% surge in sales this year to 60,000 units, including hybrid cars, according to the Association.
- BYD has rolled out the first two electric buses from its factory in California. The 12-meter long battery-powered vehicles were delivered to the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in Los Angeles County, where BYD has its U.S. headquarters in the city of Lancaster. “BYD is the harbinger of things to come,” said California Governor Jerry Brown, who toured the BYD factory. BYD Motors, which employs 60 people at its plant, expected its payroll to reach 100 by the end of this year and grow to 200 next year, Chief Executive Stella Li said.
- Honda Motors plans to double the number of car models it sells in China to about 20 over the next two years to try to capture market share from rivals such as General Motors. Honda also plans to source more parts made in China to keep costs low. In comparison, General Motors sells 40 models in China, and last year sold more than four times the number of cars than Honda sold.
- Sports carmaker WM Saleen, which was founded by former racing driver Steven Saleen, secured tens of orders during the recent Beijing Auto Show. The company only manufactures a limited number of cars. The Super S7’s buyers will be invited to Los Angeles for a super car training course on a real race track for one week. The Super S7 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km in 2.4 seconds, 0 to 200 km in 6.5 seconds and 0 to 300 km in 14.5 seconds. The car is tailor-made for each individual consumer, who has to wait 12 months for delivery.
- German auto components and electrical equipment firm Bosch concluded its 2013 fiscal year with a record sales revenue of CNY41.2 billion in China, a significant growth of 18% from the previous year. Bosch’s automotive sector grew almost twice as fast as the market in China in 2013. Last year, Bosch opened a plant for automotive after-market products in Nanjing, a chassis plant in Chengdu and an automotive test and technology center in Donghai, Jiangsu province. This year, its joint venture Mahle Turbo Systems opened a plant in Shanghai to produce turbochargers for gasoline engines and a plant for diesel systems in Qingdao. Bosch currently has 17 technical centers in China.
- Just two weeks after making its debut in China, the new Tesla Model S electric car is available to rent in Shanghai. Two top-end models, which have a local sales price of more than CNY1 million, can be hired at eHi Auto Services Co, which opened the country’s first electric car rental outlet in the city last year. There are just two cars for rent at present, but the company said it intends to increase its Tesla fleet later this month.
Short news automotive
Apr-03-2014 By : agxadmin
- Sales of electric cars are hampered by the limited number of charging points for private vehicles and the fact that it is often not possible to install charging points in residential communities due to the high voltage required. About 40% of 300 residents who test drove electric cars last year returned home empty-handed because they couldn’t install a charging point at home, according to Electric Beiijng, an semi-official organization aimed at promoting electric cars. State Grid said it would set up a total of 6,000 charging facilities in Shanghai within two years, and promised to build 1,000 similar facilities in Beijing for private car owners, unlike most of the current ones that are available only to taxis and buses.
- Chinese car sales rose 13.9% last year to 21.98 million vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Of the top ten car brands in terms of sales, eight were joint-venture brands – Shanghai General Motors, FAW-Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen, Dongfeng-Nissan and Beijing Hyundai among others.
- The number of bidders for Shanghai car plates leapt more than 35% in March from February, but priced remained stable. The March auction attracted 61,853 private buyers – up 35.2% from 45,758 in February and a six-year high for the second consecutive month. However, the number of plates on offer remained at 8,000. The surge in demand pushed the average price for a private car license up CNY515 – 0.7% – on February to CNY73,872, while the lowest winning bid was up CNY600 to CNY73,800, said the Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co.
- Infiniti sold 2,365 units in China in January, surging 161% year-on-year and setting a new monthly sales record. Its February sales reached 1,586 units, still up 218% from the same period of last year despite the Chinese New Year period. January sales of the popular sporty G series rose 131% year-on-year, and those of the well-received QX50 SUV increased 162%. The two models drove Inifiniti’s February sales as well, according to the company. In 2014, the brand will introduce six models to the Chinese market.
- Shanghai General Motors will recall more than 24,000 cars imported in China over an air bag defect. The recall covers 24,021 Buick Enclave sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) from the model years of 2008 to 2013 and made between August 15, 2008 and September 21, 2012.
- A growing number of electric car owners are applying for private charging facilities at their homes. Shanghai Power Co said it has received 140 applications for home-based charging points, but has so far given the go-ahead for only 30. Sometimes the local network and conditions at the site are not appropriate for the installation. Moreover, even if an application is approved by the power supplier, the property manager might still block it, citing safety concerns. Private chargers cost from a few thousand to more than CNY50,000. Shanghai has 24 power stations and about 2,000 charging spots.
- Hangzhou’s government has started restricting the number of new car plates at the end of March in a bid to reduce congestion and combat air pollution. No plates will be issued until April 26 when car buyers can take their chances in a lottery system to get a plate for free or bid for a plate with a starting price of CNY10,000. The city will issue a total of 80,000 plates over the 12 months from May with 64,000 available in the lottery and the rest to be bid for. It was expected that the average price for a car plate would be around CNY15,000.
- Dongfeng Motor Group and joint venture partner PSA Peugeot Citroen signed a global strategic partnership agreement. The deal was sealed three days after the French carmaker announced a €3 billion capital increase, in which Dongfeng’s purchase of a 14% stake in its partner of 22 years will put the Chinese automaker along with the French government and the Peugeot family as PSA’s biggest shareholders. The partners will set up a new joint venture to export cars made by their jointly-owned Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co, as well as other PSA cars, to other Asian markets. The two partners will also set up a new research and development center.
- Volkswagen signed joint declarations with its Chinese partners at a ceremony attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Volkswagen will partner with SAIC Motor Corp and First Automotive Works (FAW) Group to develop and begin production of new-energy vehicles from 2016. The projects are part of €18.2 billion in investment for new plants and products that Volkswagen and its partners are making between 2014 and 2018. It will be the largest-ever investment in China’s automotive industry. Agreement was also reached on expanding production capacity at the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture.
- General Motors Co will pull the Opel from China next year as part of a plan to focus the brand on the European market. Opel, which has been in China since 1993, failed to expand beyond a low-volume, niche player in the country, accounting for less than 1% of GM’s sales in the market last year. Opel’s 22 Chinese dealers sold 4,365 vehicles in 2013. “This is a long overdue decision,” Karl-Thomas Neumann, Opel’s CEO, said in a statement.
- Production of vehicles by Chery Jaguar Land Rover is set to start in the fourth quarter of the year as construction of a plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province, is underway as scheduled. The 50-50 joint venture Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co is capitalized at CNY10.9 billion. It has an annual production capacity of 130,000 units. A research and development facility will also be established in Shanghai. Jaguar Land Rover’s sold 95,237 units in China in 2013, a 30% increase over the previous year.
Short news automotive
Mar-06-2014 By : agxadmin
- Nissan’s sales in China, which slumped in late 2012 after a flare-up in anti-Japanese sentiment, bounced back sharply, rising 94% to 381,000 vehicles in the last quarter of 2013.
- U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors appealed to China to be given incentives for new-energy vehicles. The Chinese government currently provides subsidies only to locally produced new-energy vehicles, with CNY35,000 to CNY60,000 per vehicle. Tesla also announced its Model S would cost CNY734,000 in China, far lower than the market anticipation of at least CNY1 million. The price is still about 50% higher than is charged in the United States because it covers shipping, taxes and import duties, with “no additional profits”, the company said. Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects sales in China to match its U.S. volume by 2015.
- China’s passenger car sales reached an all-time monthly high in January, with 1.88 million vehicles sold, up 10.1% year-on-year, and 3.7% higher than the highest monthly total last year recorded in December. “Two new groups of car buyers have been driving market growth since the fourth quarter: panic buyers living in cities that may impose car purchase restrictions, and civil servants buying their own cars because management of official fleets has been tightened,” Rao Da, Secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said.
- 12 more cities have been included in a program to promote the use of environmentally friendly cars, taking the total number of cities and regions involved to 40. The cities-including Beijing-have set specific sales targets and are expected to act as icebreakers. Cities in eastern regions are required to promote not less than 10,000 new-energy vehicles by the end of 2015, while targets for the rest are set at 5,000. Beijing and Shenzhen have set their own targets of 35,000, pushing up the total for the 40 cities to around 320,000 units.
- Shanghai car plate prices continued to drop, even with the supply at a 22-month low and the number of bidders at its highest level in nearly six years. The average price went down CNY144 or 0.2% to CNY73,35, while the number of bidders rose to 45,758 from 41,946 in January. A total of 8,000 car plates were made available for auction in February – 7,400 for individual bidders and 600 for organizations.
- ABB will enter into a partnership with Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co to supply direct-current fast chargers over the next six years. The wall-mounted chargers will have a number of innovations designed for user convenience and safety including a mobile app that allows cloud-based remote monitoring and control of charging sessions. First deliveries are expected by the middle of the year. The chargers will be sold through BYD-Daimler’s Denza dealerships along with the vehicle. The fully electric Denza is designed for journeys of more than 250 km and will be among the first long-range electric vehicles on the Chinese market.
- On January 28, four ministries raised the subsidy for new energy vehicles by 5% in highly industrialized target areas including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta. Buyers of green cars can now receive a maximum subsidy of CNY57,000 from the central government. The Beijing Transport Commission announced its own subsidy package for pure electrics of up to CNY57,000. Its plan calls for 200,000 clean energy vehicles on the road by the end of 2017. The list of models eligible for subsidies from the Beijing government has yet to be formally released.
- Shanghai police are warning car owners of the risks associated with buying temporary license plates online, which might be counterfeit. Anyone caught driving on counterfeit or altered plates faces up to 15 days’ detention and a fine of CNY2,000 CNY5,000.
- Almost a third of Chinese car buyers see consumer-driven content, such as automotive blogs or reviews, as their most trusted source of information when buying a vehicle, according to a survey by consumer insight company Kantar Worldpanel. Car buyers in the United States are more likely to be persuaded by traditional marketing, rather than blogs, forums and social media, which only appeal to 7% of buyers.
- Dah Chong Hong, which distributes a range of foreign car brands, is optimistic on demand this year, despite the end of a Bentley partnership on the mainland contributing to a 13.8% drop in profit for last year. The company said it expected to gain from the Hong Kong government’s scheme to phase out old diesel vehicles and would see stable growth from the rising middle class on the mainland. The company recorded a net profit of HKD901 million last year.
- Buyers of electric cars produced by BYD and BAIC Motor will get free license plates in Shanghai, saving them over CNY70,000. BYD’s Qin hybrid car and the E150 purely electric car of BAIC have recently been included in Shanghai’s new energy car subsidy program. The two cars are strong competitors for Shanghai-based SAIC’s Roewe E50. Subsidies will also shave CNY33,250 off BYD Qin’s retail price which starts from CNY189,800, and cut CNY47,500 from BAIC E150’s nearly CNY250,000.
- Volvo released a series of environmentally-friendly engines on February 26, in response to growing concerns over air pollution in China. The 4-cylinder 2.0-liter engines, one diesel and two gasoline options, were developed based on its Drive-E philosophy. They can cut fuel consumption by 13% to 35%. The automaker said they will help achieve Volvo’s target of lowering its model’s carbon dioxide emission to 95 g/km by 2020 and realize its ultimate goal of zero emissions. The first vehicles to use such engines in China will be XC 60 crossovers.
- Toyota’s sales in China grew 43.1% year-on-year to 51,900 units in February, driving its January and February sales 26.4% higher from a year earlier. Toyota’s sales grew 9.2% to 917,500 units in 2013 but under performed the market’s 16% expansion. Toyota seeks to sell 1.1 million cars in China this year, up 19.9%.
Short news automotive
Jan-09-2014 By : agxadmin
- Volkswagen has unveiled its new “People First” strategy for the Chinese market, renewing the company’s focus on serving people in an innovative and responsible way. “Our China strategy is based on three strong pillars: customers, employees and society,” said Jochem Heizmann, President and CEO of Volkswagen China. With 30 years of experience, Volkswagen is the automaker most closely associated with the Chinese market, since the first Volkswagen Santana model was assembled in Shanghai in 1983. By 2018, Volkswagen plans to nearly double its range of locally manufactured models in China to more than 35, including about 15 new-energy models.
- Two auto parts exhibitions were held concurrently with the Guangzhou Auto show in November last year. Statistics show that China’s auto parts industry accounts for 35% of the country’s entire automotive industry. The proportion is 60% to 70% in developed economies, leading analysts to speculate that there is great potential for growth in the market. At present, there are nearly 500 foreign auto parts companies with operations in China. The world’s top 20 parts enterprises have entered the market through wholly-owned companies or joint ventures.
- 28 Chinese cities and city clusters have been designated to promote the use of new-energy vehicles. Government subsidies will be given to users and manufacturers from 2013 to 2015. By the end of 2012, there were 27,800 new-energy vehicles in 25 cities and 80% of them were buses. The big cities on the list must have at least 10,000 new-energy vehicles in service by 2015, while smaller cities need at least 5,000. Owners of pure electric passenger vehicles are eligible for subsidies of CNY35,000 to CNY60,000. The subsidy for plug-in hybrids will be CNY35,000.
- The explosive growth of the car market in China is also giving life to a new industry: used cars. Chinese started buying new cars in huge numbers about four years ago, about the average length of time analysts say drivers will stick with a vehicle before trading it in for a fresh model. The second-hand market is already taking off, with sales growth last year outpacing that for new vehicles. By volume it is still dwarfed by new cars, which outsold used vehicles three to one. In 2012, used car sales rose 11% to 4.8 million vehicles, while new car sales rose 7% to 15.5 million.
- Authorities in Beijing announced that the city will further reduce the number of new car plates available to buyers and encourage the use of new-energy vehicles. From 2014 through 2017, the number of new cars available to registered drivers in the capital, which is currently handled through the city’s monthly plate lottery, will be reduced from 240,000 a year to 150,000. The number of applicants in the November lottery was more than 1.74 million. The new policy will ensure that the capital will add only 600,000 new cars in the next four years, including 430,000 gasoline vehicles and 170,000 new-energy vehicles.
- Matthew Tsien, 53, former Vice President of Planning and Program Management for GM China, succeeded Bob Socia as GM China President on January 1. Tsien is a Chinese-American who has worked for GM for 37 years. He has served as Executive Vice President of the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture and helped negotiate GM’s early joint ventures with SAIC.
- The number of private cars in China has jumped 13 times in 10 years. There are now 85.07 million private cars in the country compared to 6 million in 2003, Xinhua news agency said in early December. More than 14 million were added each year in the past two years. Private cars now account for 82.8% of all vehicles in China, with Beijing having the most of any city at 5 million. There are currently more than 275 million drivers in the country, 2.6 times the number in 2003.
- China Central Television (CCTV) has accused foreign carmakers of charging customers more for repair costs than in other markets, singling out Audi, Subaru and Jaguar Land Rover. It also said that many foreign carmakers’ dealers were reluctant to repair parts, often insisting on more expensive replacements. The program said it was based on interviews with customers and workers at service workshops designated by foreign carmakers.
- Ford hosted the global debut of its all-new Mustang in Shanghai on December 5. The U.S. company earlier announced that it plans to bring 15 all-new models to China to enrich its product portfolio by 2015, including the premium brand of Lincoln limousines. The Mustang will go on sale in China in 2015. Ford’s total sales in China in the first 11 months of 2013 surged 51% from a year earlier to 840,975 units owing to strong November sales, which grew 47% year-on-year.
- Shanghai’s transportation authority set a unified 72,600 ceiling for the monthly car plate auction in 2014 in an effort to tame prices. Bidders for car plates cannot place prices above the ceiling during the first-round of bids, which are often used as a gauge for second-round bids by participants. The new upper limit was set according to the lowest ceiling imposed last year. A total of about 100,000 car plates will be made available for sales this year, the same level as last year.
- China announced that it stopped levying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on certain types of cars imported from the United States when the measures expired on December 15. On December 14, 2011, China had started levying punitive duties on sedans and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) with engines of 2.5 liters and above imported from the U.S. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said the duties would be terminated because it had not received any applications for a renewal of the anti-dumping investigation. During the first 10 months of last year, 908,000 imported vehicles were sold in China, up 9.6% from a year earlier.
- Shanghai’s car plate prices rebounded slightly at 2013’s last auction before a rigid price ceiling mechanism comes into force this month. The average price of a Shanghai license plate rose to CNY76,093, up CNY376 from November. The number of bidders increased 3.7% to 39,625. The city government has announced a unified CNY72,600 ceiling for car plate auctions throughout 2014.
- A new measure by Tianjin city to restrict the number of new car license plates created a buying spree by residents eager to purchase cars in the five hours between the announcement and the time the measure took effect. Car buyers will now have to take part in a lottery or bid at auction to win a license plate. A salesperson at an Audi dealership in Tianjin said the policy increased the store’s sales volume tenfold between 7 pm and midnight on December 15. Cars with Tianjin car plates will also be banned from the road for one day a week according to the last digit of their number plate, from March 1 to January 10, 2015.
- BYD Auto has launched a new plug-in hybrid in Beijing, called Qin. It is a dual-mode model designed to run 70 kilometers on a single charge under all-electric mode, said Hou Yan, General Manager of BYD’s sales unit.
- Chinese automakers should set their eyes on emerging markets other than BRIC countries to find feasible opportunities in their globalization ambitions, said the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The company’s recently released report said rising automotive markets other than the BRIC “offer the last great growth opportunity” in a world where established markets are stagnating and key market shares have already been claimed in BRIC countries. BCG predicted that 88 countries it calls “beyond-BRIC markets” will generate 6% annual growth in sales by 2020, four times as fast as the established “Triad Markets” it defines as the United States and Canada, Europe and Japan, and Australia and New Zealand.
- The first two fully electric and emission-free buses made by BYD have been put into service in London. In Shenzhen 220 BYD e-buses have been in service since January 2011, traveling more than 20 million km, each carrying up to 120 passengers during rush hours with full air-conditioning in use. BYD said the bus uses about 130 kWh per 100 km in urban conditions. The e-bus battery takes four to five hours to charge from a totally exhausted state. The Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog has already converted its entire bus fleet to pure electric BYD e-buses and a fleet of 35 of the buses has been ordered for Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
- China National Heavy-Duty Truck Group Co, China’s leading heavy-duty truck maker, recently launched a multiple-brand strategy to diversify its product portfolio as part of its ongoing expansion into international markets. “Developing multiple brands is crucial to sharpening our competitive edge in different market segments,” said Ma Chunji, Chairman of the Shandong-based company, also known as Sinotruk. “Multiple brands enable us to target various market needs, providing consumers with products that have diverse features and prices,” he said at the company’s 2014 business and trade conference in December.
- Shanghai General Motors recalled nearly 1.5 million vehicles in one of the largest such vehicle recalls in China in 2013. A faulty fuel pump bracket may crack and pose a safety risk, the company said, adding that the problem lay in the supplier’s manufacturing process. Up to 1.2 million Buick Excelle made between January 17, 2006 and December 2, 2011 and 243,297 Chevrolet Sail made between April 9, 2009 and October 8, 2011 are affected by the recall. The two models involved are among General Motors’s best-sellers in China. Ford Motor Co’s joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co will also recall 80,857 of its Kuga cars over a steering part from February 21. The component might break apart when the car is involved in a collision of “considerable intensity,” posing safety dangers.
- Ford Motor Co and its local partners in China sold a total of 94,838 vehicles on a wholesale basis in December, up 35% from a year earlier, compared with a 47% increase in November and a 55% jump in October. In 2013, sales by the U.S. automaker totaled 935,813 vehicles on a wholesale basis, up 49% from 2012, helped by the Ford Focus, the best selling model in China last year.
- China’s passenger car market accelerated in 2013 by posting a double-digit growth in sales after slowing for two years, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said. The sales of sedans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) and minivans jumped 17% to 17.2 million units.
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