China Auto News of the Week (July 19 - 23, 2010)

Shanghai, July 19 (Gasgoo.com) BYD Auto will officially launch its first MPV model M6 to the domestic market tomorrow, and put four models on sale soon, priced between 169,800 yuan - 239,800 yuan ($25,000-$35,000), media reported today.

The promotion activities for BYD's four M6 MPV models have started now, and consumers who have ordered the models earlier will be offered priority pickup with no additional cost and given other preferential treatment, a person in charge of the BYD store sales said.

Shanghai, July 20 (Gasgoo.com) China's electric car manufacturer BYD Auto teamed up with California's KB Home in late March this year to build new energy homes in Lancaster, California. The first-phase construction of the project has recently been completed, BYD's public relations department said today.

Reportedly, all the five new energy homes, built in the first phase in Lancaster, have earned the Energy Star awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a perfect combination of the solar energy technology, battery technology and the LED lights.

Shanghai, July 20 (Gasgoo.com) Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group signed a cooperation agreement on July 16 with the municipal government of Rizhao, a coastal city in China's Shandong province, to build an auto parts plant in the city, media reported yesterday.

The new auto parts plant, with a planned production capacity of 800,000 sets of core auto parts and components, will cost Hyundai-Kia a total investment of $290 million. The first-phase project, which is schemed to be completed by 2011, would cost $130 million and will be capable of producing 400,000 sets.

Shanghai July 21 (Gasgoo.com) China saw an explosive growth of imported vehicles in the first five months of this year on an increasing demand in the country's auto market. If the growth can be maintained, volume of the imported autos for 2011 is likely to exceed one million units, Xu Changming, director of economic research for the State Information Center said recently.

In January-May this year, volume of imported autos in China grew 184% from last year's 110,000 units to 300,000 units, of which 244,000 units were registered, an increase of 94.6% from a year earlier. The volume of China's exported autos in the same period was only 130,000-190,000 units, up 52% year on year, according to data released by China Automobile Trading Co., Ltd..

Shanghai July 21 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Shenhua Nuoyu Medical Auto Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Brilliance Auto, signed an agreement with Austria's Dlouhy GmbH Fahrzeugbau on July 15 to set up a joint venture in Shanghai to expand the specialized vehicle business and modified vehicle business in China, Brilliance Auto announced recently.

As a special-purpose vehicle manufacturer, Shanghai Shenhua Nuoyu is mature enough to develop, design and manufacture the vehicles, but its market share and brand awareness still need to be greatly improved, Brilliance said.

Shanghai July 22 (Gasgoo.com) Recently, media reported that Mercedes-Benz (China) got a big promotion in its position within the company.

Klaus Maier, CEO of Mercedes-Benz China Ltd., was promoted to the same level as CEO of Beijing-Benz DaimlerChrysler (BDDC), both report to Benz headquarters in Germany. Several local professional managers: Cai Gongming, Mao Jingbo and Wangyan, who are the directors of sales, marketing and public relations respectively were also promoted to the position of vice presidents of Mercedes-Benz China Ltd..

Shanghai July 22 (Gasgoo.com) BYD (01211.HK) shares closed at 50.1 HK dollars yesterday. Despite a slight increase over the previous day, the company's share price has fallen by 40.4% over the past three months, compared to its monthly high of 84 HK dollars on April 7, First Financial Daily reported.

The main reason for the continuous decline in BYD's share price is that its electric cars cannot achieve commercialization in a short term, said Cao He, an auto analyst with Mingzu Securities Co.

Shanghai, July 23 (Gasgoo.com) Two robot-driven electric vans developed by Italian engineers were launched earlier this week on an 13,000 kilometer (8,000-mile) journey from Italy to China to demonstrate vehicle autonomy using a solar-powered robot driver, media reported.

The bright orange vans will travel from Rome to Shanghai over three months, and will navigate Moscow streets of Russia. They use cameras and laser sensors to figure out where to go. For safety reasons, there is someone sitting in the car's back seat to take over driving if the vehicle malfunctions.

Shanghai, July 23 (Gasgoo.com) Subaru and Beijing Auto Industry Corp (BAIC) have finally reached a preliminary agreement on establishing a joint venture in China, but not the rumored two-way partnership in which each side holds half of the shares.

Media said that China's third largest automobile sales dealer, Power Diversity Automobile Trade Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Power Diversity) will also take part in the investment program under which Subaru, BAIC and Power Diversity will build a facility in Tangshan city, North China's Hebei province, where Power Diversity is located in. Moreover, a Subaru SUV will first be made there. However, the information has not been confirmed yet.