China urges automakers to improve quality control
Shanghai, March 15 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government has issued guidelines urging the nation's automakers to establish quality accountability mechanism to improve quality supervision, Xinhua News reported yesterday.
Auto companies are warned against blind expansion, and asked to focus more on technology upgrade and improve product quality by using "new technology, new techniques, new equipment and new materials," China's Ministry of Information and Technology said in a statement yesterday.
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Toyota asked to compensate consumers in China
Shanghai, March 15 (Gasgoo.com) Toyota Motor should compensate Chinese consumers for faulty vehicles and provide a timetable for repairing these vehicles, the head of the industry and commerce administration of China's Zhejiang province said recently, Bloomberg reported.
Zheng Yumin, head of Zhejiang's Administration for Industry and Commerce, also asked the Japanese carmaker to provide a timetable for repairing faulty vehicles purchased by Chinese consumers, according to the statement.
Nissan to open design center in Beijing next year
Shanghai, March 16 (Gasgoo.com) Nissan Motor announced yesterday that it will open a car design center in Beijing early next year to develop vehicles that cater to the needs of consumers in China and other rapidly growing Asian markets, Japan Today reported.
The new studio, the first China-based facility of its kind to be built by a Japanese carmaker, will be located in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, where automotive design activities are brisk, the Japanese car company said. The new design center is scheduled to open early in 2011.
BYD not to mass-produce electric cars in mid-2010
Shanghai, March 16 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese carmaker BYD Co. has given up a plan to mass produce electric cars in China by the middle of this year, Bloomberg reported today.
The company will make 100 E6 electric cars to be used as taxis in the city of Shenzhen, where BYD is headquartered, said Chairman Wang Chuanfu. Further development of the vehicles will depend on the success of the taxis.
China probes into Toyota's globally recalled models
Shanghai, March 17 (Gasgoo.com) China's quality regulatory body is planning to investigate into car models of Toyota Motor that have been recalled outside the country, said Zhang Gang, chief engineer of the government agency, SinoCast reported today. These Toyota models have been imported or locally made for Chinese buyers.
In addition to supervising the recall of the RAV4 model in China, the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) will also arrange for experts to launch research and evaluation on the feedback of Chinese owners of Toyota's car models recalled in other markets.
VW to expand in south China market with two plants
Shanghai, March 17 (Gasgoo.com) Together with its Chinese partner SAIC Motor and FAW Group, German auto giant Volkswagen AG plans to set up two plants in Guangdong province to boost sales and raise market share in south China, media reported Monday.
More than 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) will be invested in the southern production base including two plants, due to be completed in 2013, which will make models under Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda brands, with output capacity of 200,000 units each, according to Winfried Vahland, president of Volkswagen China Group.
Mercedes China Feb sales up 160% to 7,200 cars
Shanghai, March 18 (Gasgoo.com) Mercedes-Benz continued its success story in mainland China last month with a year-on-year growth of 160% by selling 7,200 units of Mercedes-Benz, Smart, AMG and Maybach, the premium car company said on its China website recently.
The luxury car maker, Daimler AG's premium car division, tallied its China sales in the first two months to more than 15,300 units, up 155% from a year earlier, maintaining its position as the fastest-growing luxury brand in China, now the world's largest auto market.
Guangzhou-Fiat JV to start making Fiat cars in 2011
Shanghai, March 18 (Gasgoo.com) The Guangzhou-Fiat joint venture has been officially approved by the Chinese government and will start production of Fiat vehicles in central China by September 2011, China Car Times said earlier this week.
The 50:50 venture will be based in the Changsha Economic Zone, central China's Hunan province, and the project will have an investment of 5 billion yuan ($732 million). The auto-making JV is expected to start operation by September 2011 after new factories are built, machinery imported and locally sourced.
SAIC rolls out own-brand Roewe 350 at Nanjing plant
Shanghai, March 19 (Gasgoo.com) China's biggest automaker SAIC Motor started production of its self-developed vehicles on March 17 at its new plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, rolling out the company's first Roewe 350 car, media reported.
The Roewe 350, an entry-level own-brand car model of SAIC, rolled off the production line at the auto giant's Nanjing plant, located in the city's Pukou district. The production 350 is reportedly equipped with a 1.5L engine, but a 1.5T is apparently in the works as well.
Geely says talks on Volvo 'very tough' due to Ford
Shanghai, March 19 (Gasgoo.com) Talks between Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Ford Motor over Geely's acquisition of Volvo have hit a snag likely due to problems at Ford, said Geely's chairman, a newspaper reported today.
Geely Chairman Li Shufu told the Wall Street Journal that talks were "very tough" and "the situation is changing constantly." He was interviewed on the sidelines of a ceremony at the company's affiliated Beijing Geely University.
