Guangzhou Honda nearing '09 sales target
Shanghai, November 23 (Gasgoo.com) Guangzhou Honda (Guangqi Honda), a joint venture between Guangzhou Auto and Honda Motor, has sold more than 310,000 vehicles this year to date, reaching 95% of its sales target for 2009, Reuters reported today, citing the company's president.
The joint venture, located in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, makes and sells cars of the Accord, Odyssey, Fit ands City brands. About 1 million Accord cars have been sold in China to date since the brand was introduced 10 years ago to Guangzhou Honda (which was set up in 1998), said the company's President Kanayama.
(Click the title to read the full article)
China to issue new-energy car regulations in early '10
Shanghai, November 23 (Gasgoo.com) China’s regulations on the development of new energy vehicles are expected to be announced in March next year, Wang Shulin, an auto expert from the nations’s top economic planner, told China Securities Journal yesterday.
Reportedly the technology regulations on new energy vehicles will be published recently. And the regulations on the development of new energy vehicles have been submitted to the State Council for approval and are expected to be officially in effect in March 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)’s auto industry expert said.
SAIC may sell 2.65 mln vehicles this year, up 30%
Shanghai, November 24 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC Motor Corp, China's largest automaker, expects its sales this year to rise 30% from last year to 2.65 million vehicles, Xinhua News reported today, citing a company official.
SAIC sold a total of 2.188 million vehicles in the first ten months, an increase of 51% from a year earlier. "Sales for the whole year will likely hit 2.65 million units, surpassing Suzuki and Fiat to become the world's eighth largest car company," said SAIC Motor president Chen Hong.
Nissan aims for 20% growth in 2010 China sales
Shanghai, November 24 (Gasgoo.com) Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor aims to boost its China sales by 20% next year as it looks to the world's largest car market for return to profitability, Reuters reported yesterday, citing a top executive of Nissan China.
Nissan tries to sell 600,000 units in China next year, but its local production capacity, now 500,000 vehicles a year, is a kind of challenge, said Yasuaki Hashimoto, president of Nissan (China) Investment Co Ltd., adding that the carmaker would add extra shifts and take other measures in the short term.
SAIC lifts sales target of own-brand vehicles
Shanghai, November 25 (Gasgoo.com) China's top automaker SAIC Motor Corp. aims to sell about 90,000 own-brand vehicles this year, nearly double the original target, Reuters reported yesterday, citing the company's president.
SAIC expects its sales of own-brand vehicles to double again in 2010, said its president Chen Hong, speaking at the Guangzhou auto show. "I expect that the auto market will continue growing at a fairly rapid level," he said. "We are full of confidence for 2010."
Beijing Auto to "cautiously re-evaluate" Saab deal
Shanghai, November 25 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) said today that it will "cautiously re-evaluate" General Motors' Saab brand deal after co-bidder Swedish automaker Koennigsegg pulled out of talks to buy Saab, Dow Jones reported.
Koenigsegg Group had struck a preliminary deal in September with Beijing Auto for the Chinese automaker to take a minority stake in Koenigsegg, helping the Swedish company close a funding gap to buy Saab and allowing Beijing Auto to produce Saab-brand models.
Jaguar to build sales company in China for expansion
Shanghai, November 26 (Gasgoo.com) Jaguar is looking to change the distribution mode in China by setting up Jaguar's lcoal sales company as a step of the British carmaker's expanding the total investment in the Chinese market, Li Ruixuan, the general manager told Beijing Times at Guangzhou Auto Show this week.
In last week's board meeting of Jaguar LandRover in China, the first meeting outside Britain, the board planned to change the current dealership to a specialized sales company of Jaguar itself.
SAIC to produce self-developed MG 6 sedan in UK
Shanghai, November 26 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC Motor Corp plans to start making its self-developed MG 6 sedan, based on acquired technology, in its UK plant at the end of next year, company president Chen Hong said earlier this week at the Guangzhou auto show, where the MG 6 is displayed, Reuters reported.
SAIC Motor Corp, China's largest automaker which operates joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen AG, launched its first self-developed car, the Roewe 750, in March 2007, followed by the Roewe 550. The own-brand Roewe and MG cars were based on technologies acquired from defunct British carmaker MG Rover.
Geely says in detailed talks with Ford on Volvo deal
Shanghai, November 27 (Gasgoo.com) China's Geely Holding Group said today it was having a detailed and in-depth discussion with Ford Motor over relevant terms and contracts about acquiring Volvo, Xinhua news reported.
Last week union leaders at Ford Motor's Volvo car unit held their first talks with Geely, but the Chinese carmaker wouldn't specify where it's getting financial backing for a bid to buy Volvo. However, the leaders guessed that the government may ultimately be behind the takeover.
BYD Jan-Sept net profit up 201% on strong car sales
Shanghai, November 27 (Gasgoo.com) China's electric car and battery maker BYD Co. Ltd. said yesterday that its earnings in the first nine months surged 201% thanks to strong car sales in the domestic market, Reuters reported.
BYD, 10% owned by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, posted a net profit of 2.34 billion yuan ($342.8 million) from January to September, up from 777.8 million yuan of a year earlier. Revenue increased 39% to 26.36 billion yuan in the first nine months.
