Toyota China March sales up 33% to 61,200 units
April 05 (Dow Jones). Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales in China rose 33% in March from a year earlier to 61,200 units, spokesman Hitoshi Yokoyama said Thursday.
The Japanese auto maker's increase in sales comes in the wake of a global quality crisis, in which more than 8 million of its cars were recalled. Although a relatively small number of cars were recalled in China--75,600 RAV4 sport-utility vehicles--the company last month began a major new sales campaign in China to bolster sales.
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GM's China sales exceed U.S. for third straight month
April 05 (BusinessWeek). General Motors Co.'s China sales rose to a record in March, surpassing its U.S. deliveries for a third straight month and cementing the country's importance as the world's largest auto market.
GM, the biggest foreign automaker in China, boosted sales 68 percent to 230,048 vehicles last month, it said in a statement today. That compares with a 33 percent gain for Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and a 47 percent jump by South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. GM raised U.S. sales 21 percent in March to 188,546.
Dongfeng Nissan JV to import e-car LEAF to China in 2011
Shanghai, April 6 (Gasgoo.com) Recently, Ren Yong, vice manager of Dongfeng Nissan JV, said the company will produce the Nissan electric car in 2011 and is planning to first launch it in Europe, North America and other markets gradually this year. It said the first electric car Nissan will import to China is LEAF, as the first economical compact electric car globally.
Besides, the five-seat Leaf cars, driven by the laminated lithium-ion batteries, with a 160 km cruise mileage, will be launched in Japan, the United States and Europe in the second half of 2010. The car is expected to be launched first in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province and Wuhan city, Hubei province in China.
BYD set to unveil its first SUV at Beijing auto show
Shanghai, April 6 (Gasgoo.com) This year, Chinese carmaker BYD Auto has an impressive array of cars for launch, including the L3, G3, M6 and S6. The S6, as BYD's first SUV model, will be unveiled at the upcoming 2010 Beijing auto show later this month, media reported.
Although it is similar to the Lexus RV, the self-developed BYD S6 boasts its own design style which really suits the front end of the SUV, and the interior also appears to be quite handsome, said China Car Times. It will have a full electronic sunroof and sliding luggage rack which is practical.
Geely seeks to sell Volvo sedan as China's official car
Shanghai, April 6 (Gasgoo.com) Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has won support from Chinese officials to buy Volvo Car Corp. from Ford Motor and will seek to sell Volvo sedans as China's official cars, now dominated by Volkswagen AG' Audi brand, Bloomberg reported.
Geely intends to boost Volvo sales in China, the world's largest auto market, ninefold to 200,000 a year within five years, Chairman Li Shufu said on March 28, after the company signed a deal to buy Volvo from Ford Motor for $1.8 billion.
China Jan-Feb auto exports up 58% to 66,100 units
Shanghai, April 7 (Gasgoo.com) China's auto exports in January and February reached 66,100 vehicles, up 50.02% from a year earlier, with the export value totaling $871 million, up 23.08%, Xinhua News reported, citing the latest industry data.
The statistics released yesterday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) also show that the country's automakers exported about 30,000 vehicles in February, up 76.03% year on year, but down 16.54% month on month, scoring $393 million in export value, up 47.24% y/y, but down 16.06% m/m.
Mercedes China March sales up 57% to 8,500 units
Shanghai, April 7 (Gasgoo.com) In March, Daimler AG's luxury car division Mercedes-Benz continued its growth in China, boosting its sales by 57% from a year earlier to 8,500 units, the company said on its website yesterday.
In the first quarter, sales of Mercedes-Benz cars in China's mainland and Hong Kong totaled a record 24,100 units. This year-on-year increase of 105% was the highest recorded by any premium car manufacturer in China.
Toyota owners in Zhejiang get recall compensation
April 08 (Xinhua). So far, 251 Toyota owners in east China's Zhejiang Province have received compensation from the Japanese automaker to cover expenses incurred in January's recall.
An average of 300 yuan ($43.9) was offered to RAV4 owners either in cash or through coupons, said the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce Wednesday.
SAIC to launch own-brand Roewe hybrid car this year
Shanghai, April 8 (Gasgoo.com) China's auto giant SAIC Motor plans to launch its first self-developed hybrid car this year and a plug-in hybrid car by 2012, Reuters reported today, citing a senior executive of the company.
As part of its plans to develop new-energy vehicles, SAIC aims to put its Roewe 750 hybrid to the market later this year, a model with its energy saving rate reaching 20%. To support the upcoming Shanghai World Expo 2010, SAIC will offer about a thousand clean energy vehicles to the event.
SAIC Motor Q1 net profit more than quadruples
April 09, 2010 (Reuters) SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest automaker, said on Friday its first-quarter net profit rose to more than four times from the year-ago result while March vehicle sales jumped 58 percent from a year earlier, boosted by government steps to bolster car purchases.
SAIC, which runs car manufacturing ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen, gave no figure for its estimated first-quarter financial results, but said it posted a first-quarter net profit of 626.94 million yuan ($91.9 million) in the year-ago period.
China March passenger car sales up 63% to 1.26M units
Shanghai, April 9 (Gasgoo.com) China's passenger car sales in March rose 63.2% from a year earlier to 1.26 million units, media reported today, citing the latest official industry data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The March sales of cars, SUVs and MPVs also grew from the 942,900 cars sold in February which saw an increase 55.3% year on year, the industry group said today. Sales grew 115.5% in January to 1.32 million cars. That shows the first-quarter sales came to 3,522,900 units, up 76%, the association said.
