China market demand helps boost VW Q1 sales
Shanghai, April 19 (Gasgoo.com) Europe's largest automaker Volkswagen AG has announced that its first-quarter sales increased 25% to 1.73 million, helped by a surge in the Chinese market demand, media reported.
In the first three months, VW and its two Chinese joint ventures, FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai-Volkswagen, sold 457,259 vehicles in China's mainland and Hong Kong, up 61% more than a year earlier, with sales in March growing 50% year on year to 169,084 units, the German automaker said.
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Mercedes to display 38 car models at Beijing show
Shanghai, April 19 (Gasgoo.com) Reportedly, Mercedes-Benz will bring its Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Smart and AMG brand models, totaling 38, to the Beijing Auto Show later this month, including three models of the new long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz E-Class that will make their world debut, and three models of the F800 Style Concept, the SLS AMG supercar and the new E-Class Cabriolet that will make their Asia debut this time. The C-Class wagon, as China's initial model, will also be unveiled at the Beijing show.
GAC, Gonow to sign restructuring deal soon
Shanghai, April 20 (Gasgoo.com) Reportedly, Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group Co., Ltd. (GAC) has reached an acquisition agreement with Chinese minicar maker Zhejiang Gonow Auto Co., Ltd. and the contract will be signed in Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang province, on April 26 2010.
This is GAC's second restructuring in China after its previous acquisition of the Hunan Changfeng Motor Co Ltd. (Presently known as GAC Changfeng Motor Co Ltd.) The restructuring complies with the company's development thinking of consolidating its geographic advantage in the southern Yangtze River region so that it could benefit enormously from the country's adjustments to the automobile industry layout.
Skoda to achieve 20% of Shanghai VW sales this year
Shanghai, April 20 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen AG's Czech brand Skoda expects to account for 20% of the overall sales this year of Shanghai VW, a joint venture between Volkswagen and SAIC, China Daily reported, citing a sales executive of the venture.
The Czech brand Skoda will play a bigger role in sales growth at its parent's partnership in China with SAIC Motor. Skoda's China sales in the first quarter surged 112% from a year earlier to 42,707 cars. Overall first-quarter sales of Shanghai Volkswagen grew by 57.4% to 211,191 units.
PSA to show Metropolis hybrid concept at Shanghai Expo
Shanghai, April 21 (Gasgoo.com) France's automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen will display its China-designed Metropolis hybrid concept at the upcoming 2010 Shanghai World Expo to showcase its "creative technology" for a balance of eco-friendliness and luxury, Inside Line reported.
The Citroen Metropolis concept car, as the work of the PSA design center in Shanghai, made its world premiere in the Chinese metropolis on Sunday, ahead of its display in the French Pavilion at the World's Fair which will start on May 1 and go through October 31.
Geely's clean-energy car to use Volvo technology
Shanghai, April 21 (Gasgoo.com) Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., whose parent has signed a deal to buy Ford Motor's Volvo car brand, will build a clean-energy vehicle production base in central China's Shanxi province, where Geely will use Volvo technology in green-car production, SinoCast reported today, citing a local official.
In this production base, Geely Auto will adopting the cutting-edge green-energy technology from Volvo Car. Geely is planning to build its own brand by using the introduced Volvo technology while maintaining the independent operation of the acquired Swedish carmaker.
China market not involved in Toyota Lexus, Prado recall
Shanghai, April 21 (Gasgoo.com) Toyota Motor said yesterday the current global recall of its Lexus and Prado sport-utility vehicle models doesn't involve the Chinese market, Dow Jones reported.
The Japanese carmaker announced on Tuesday that it will recall about 34,000 SUVs worldwide, including 9,400 units of its Lexus GX 460 SUV model in the U.S., to fix a problem with the stability control system. The recall also includes Toyota's Land Cruiser Prado models.
China auto sales in 2010 may rise 17% to 16M units
Shanghai, April 22 (Gasgoo.com) China's vehicle sales will likely grow 17% this year to 16 million units and annual demand in the world's largest auto market may eventually exceed 30 million, Bloomberg reported today, citing an official at the State Information Center.
Passenger-car sales in 2010 are expected to rise 21.5% to 10.5 million, Xu Changming, a research director at the government advisory body, gave the estimate today during a presentation to the Beijing auto show.
China may shift tax cuts from small car to 'green car'
Shanghai, April 22 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government may stop the sales tax cuts for small cars next year if the auto market remains strong, and will provide similar tax incentives for clean-energy vehicles, Reuters reported today, citing a state researcher.
China saw its auto sales grow 46% to 13.6 million vehicles last year, overtaking the U.S. to become the world's biggest auto market, thanks to a series of government incentives such as sales tax cuts for small cars and subsidies for rural purchases of clean vehicles.
BMW to make 300,000 vehicles annually in China
Shanghai, April 23 (Gasgoo.com) German luxury car maker BMW expects to build 300,000 vehicles per year in China, which is overtaking the UK as BMW's third largest market this year (after Germany and the U.S.), Reuters reported today, citing company CEO.
"From our point of view, it is realistic that we will need this capacity over the long-term," Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters in Beijing yesterday ahead of the capital city's auto show that begins this weekend.
Chery signs football star Messi to promote Riich brand
Shanghai, April 23 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Automobile Co., China's biggest domestic brand carmaker, announced today that it has signed Argentine football star Lionel Messi as an international ambassador to promote its sedan brand Riich, signaling its ambition to become a global player, the AP reported.
Chery Auto made the announcement at the opening Beijing auto show, where the independent Chinese carmaker plans to show 29 vehicles including four alternative-energy models. Chery is bringing in 200 sales agents from foreign markets to see its latest models.
