Porsche to unveil 2011 Panamera at Beijing auto show
Shanghai, March 1 (Gasgoo.com) Like many other global and local automakers, Porsche will introduce its entry-level V6-powered Panamera and Panamera 4 models at the 2010 Beijing auto show in April, media reported recently.
The Panamera V6 is strictly rear-wheel drive while the Panamera 4 has all-wheel drive. Both will have Porsche's new seven-speed, double-clutch transmission with the snappy name of Doppelkupplungsgetriebe. While its looks are inherited from the V8 version of Panamera, the V6 is lighter than the V8 model.
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Toyota president apologizes to Chinese customers
March 01 (AP) Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized Monday to the company's customers in China, the fast-growing market that has become increasingly important to automakers as they struggle with weak global sales.
The number of Toyota vehicles recalled in China makes up only a small percentage of the 8.5 million pulled worldwide since October for sticky gas pedals, faulty floor mats and glitches in braking software.
BYD, Daimler to form electric-car JV in China
March 02 (Bloomberg) Daimler AG and BYD Co., the Chinese carmaker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, will jointly develop an electric vehicle to be sold in China, the world's largest auto market.
Daimler, the world's second-largest maker of luxury cars, and BYD signed an agreement to set up a "comprehensive" technology partnership to develop electric vehicles for the Chinese market, they said in a statement dated yesterday. The carmakers plan to develop a model that will be sold under a jointly owned new brand, they said.
Ford China Feb car sales up 37.5% to 18,193 units
Shanghai, March 2 (Gasgoo.com) Ford Motor sold 18,193 passenger cars in China last month, up 37.5% from a year earlier, the company's Chinese venture Changan Ford said yesterday, Dow Jones reported.
Sales of the Ford Focus rose more than 22% from a year earlier to 9,425 units, representing its best February sales since being launched in 2005. Ford Mondeo also achieved its best-ever February sales, up more than 24% from a year ago while Ford S-MAX recorded a significant 85% jump in sales.
Auto imports up 140% to 56,000 units in Jan
March 03 (China Knowledge) China imported 56,000 automobiles in January this year, 1.4 times as many as last January, according to statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The total national trade value for January was US$204.8 billion, up 44.4% year on year, but down 15.7% month on month as a result of the international financial crisis and factors related to Spring Festival.
Chery to boost sales 80% to 900,000 cars this year
Shanghai, March 3 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Auto, China's largest home-grown automaker, said yesterday that it aims to boost its car sales by up to 80% this year, Reuters reported.
The car company said in a statement it would sell at least 700,000 vehicles this year but will strive for a target of 900,000 units, with at least 17 new models to be launched. Sales by Chery hit 500,000 units last year, up 40.5%.
Geely Auto researching new energy cars
March 04 (Reuters) China's Geely Automobile Holdings is researching new energy cars, joining its rivals in developing clean tech vehicles as Beijing gets ready to roll out incentives to promote such technology.
But such development is still in the relatively early stages, with no new products expected within the next one to two years, Geely Chairman Li Shufu said on Wednesday.
Geely to quintuple capacity to 1.5M vehicles by 2015
hanghai, March 4 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., a potential buyer of Ford Motor's Volvo unit, plans to quintuple its annual domestic production capacity to around 1.5 million vehicles by 2015, AsiaPulse reported today.
Geely plans to begin assembling Volvo cars in China after it wraps up the deal to buy the brand from Ford Motor in the second quarter of the year. It has also agreed to acquire special vehicle carmaker Zhejiang Zhongyu Automobile Co.
FAW-VW starts producing new Jetta in Changchun
Shanghai, March 4 (Gasgoo.com) FAW-Volkswagen, a Chinese venture of Volkswagen AG, started production of the new VW Jetta cars on March 2 at its Changchun plant in northeast China, media reported.
Production of the new Jetta marks VW's progress in upgrading its hot-selling Jetta products by improving the components, safety, and quality. Jetta was well received in medium- and small-size cities, with sales in 2008 hitting 200,000 units, or 40% of FAW-VW's total sales of the year. The new Jetta will come to the market soon.
Changan Auto Feb sales up 74% to 159,060 vehicles
Shanghai, March 5 (Gasgoo.com) Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd said yesterday that its vehicle sales volume in February rose 74% to 159,060 units. Sales for the first two months of this year jumped 98% to 357,439 units, Xinhua reported.
The increase in sales was driven by the country's auto market boom, according to the statement. Changan Auto, a Chinese partner of Ford Motor and Mazda Motor, has yet to issue its 2009 annual business report.
Toyota uses 0% financing to lure buyers in China
Shanghai, March 5 (Gasgoo.com) Toyota Motor Corp has started a zero-percent financing program this month to win Chinese buyers back after global recalls of more than 8 million vehicles, including over 75,000 Toyota RAV4 SUVs in China, marred the company's reputation, Bloomberg reported today.
The Recall-plagued Japanese automaker will offer buyers the financing for its Crown sedan from March 10 through the end of April. The same incentive was offered for the 2.4-liter version of the Camry sedan on March 1 and will last until the end of this month or beyond, said a Toyota spokesman in Beijing.
