Volvo rapidly expanding sales network in China
Shanghai October 11 (Gasgoo.com) Two new Volvo dealerships were recently opened in Beijing in just one week by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which acquired the Swedish brand from U.S. auto giant Ford last month and is expanding rapidly Volvo's sales network in China, the Beijing Times reported Monday.
Beijing is a major market for Volvo cars, and as the number of Volvo dealerships grows, we hope to see the dealers gaining more profits from it as well, said Alexander Klose, CEO of Volvo China.
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Lamborghini sales picking up in China
Shanghai October 11 (Gasgoo.com) China has surpassed U.S. to become Lamborghini's second largest market, where the Italian luxury sports-car maker is expected to sell around 200 Lamborghini cars this year, its CEO Stephen Winkelmann at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, Guangzhou Daily reported Monday.
The Chinese market grows extremely fast, but you can barely foresee when Lamborghini's sales in the country will outpace the U.S., Stephen Winkelmann said, adding that about 200 Lamborghini cars are likely to be sold in China this year while sales in the U.S. market is estimated to be 30% higher than China.
China regulator approves production of four new energy models
Shanghai October 12 (Gasgoo.com) Production of four new energy models, including three electric vehicles from Lifan Motors and Chery Auto as well as one hybrid vehicle from Dongfeng Motor, were approved recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.
China's small car manufacturer Lifan Motors displayed at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show its all-electric vehicle, Lifan 620, which started its trial run in Chongqing in July and will go on sale next year.
China's auto sales up 36% to 13.1 mln units in Jan-Sep
Shanghai October 12 (Gasgoo.com) Sales of China's domestically-made automobiles totaled 13.13 million units in the first three quarters, up 35.97% compared with the same period of last year. Output reached 13.08 million units, up 36.10% year on year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tuesday.
In September alone, China's automobile output and sales both exceeded 1.5 million units, given which CAAM said the full-year figures are likely to surpass 17 million units. Automobile sales in the same month rose 16.9% from a year earlier to 1.56 million units.
BYD launches four G3 Smart Edition models
Shanghai October 13 (Gasgoo.com) BYD Co. launched yesterday four G3 Smart Edition models in China, priced between 77,900 yuan and 100,990 yuan ($11,700-$15,100). The engines that power the four G3 "digital smart midsize sedans" all meet the Euro IV emissions standards and are more suitable for frequent start on urban roads, bitauto.com reported Wednesday.
The intelligent version of BYD G3 looks more delicate and fashionable compared with the original G3. The new G3 features crystal clear diamond headlights, two-stage chrome grille, dual-mode electric sunroof with double-layer, electrically adjustable exterior mirrors and so on.
Great Wall Motor fills gap in advanced diesel engine
Shanghai October 13 (Gasgoo.com) Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd., one of China's indigenous automakers, yesterday announced successful completion of its "Lv Jing 2.0T diesel engine" after three years of R&D and with an investment of 500 million yuan ($75 million), Xinhua news reported Wednesday.
With launch of this new engine, Great Wall has filled the gap in passenger-car diesel engine, indicating that its technology has reached the international advanced level on the low-emission and high-power engine.
Chinese carmakers should follow European carmakers' trajectory
Shanghai October 14 (Gasgoo.com) The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers' data on vehicle sales in the first eight months showed that besides FAW Xiali's small cars and the mid- to high-end Honda Accord car, all the other models among the top 10 best-selling vehicles are all compact vehicles.
And it is not just that, the entire Chinese automobile market is also full of consumers that are looking for compact and mid-class vehicles, and small car consumption is only a small proportion. It is almost the same as the U.S. auto market, where mid-class vehicles such as Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, etc. are most well received by consumers, while small cars like Ford Fiesta Hatchback, Volkswagen Polo, etc. have relatively limited impact on consumer choice.
Fiat to have 200 China dealerships in 2012
Shanghai October 14 (Gasgoo.com) Fiat SpA has recently reopened 20 of its China dealerships, aiming to increase the number to 150-200 in 2012. Its joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile has also started selling domestically made and imported Fiat vehicles through the same network in China, xinhuanet.com reported Thursday, citing the Guangzhou-Fiat JV.
Since Fiat terminated its JV partnership with Nanjing Automobile Corp. (NAC) at the end of 2007, the number of its dealerships in the country has been dropping year by year from the original 50. While by now the first batch of 20 dealerships in Beijing, Kunming, Hangzhou and other cities have been recovered by the Italian automaker, of which 10 dealerships used to belong to the Nanjing-Fiat JV.
Top 100 Auto-Parts Firms reveal Market Development Prospects in Five Years
Shanghai October 15 (Gasgoo.com) The final list of Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto-Parts Suppliers Award 2010 was announced in Beijing at the end of September. The grand unveiling ceremony and awards ceremony were attended by senior leaders from auto parts companies, executives from the procurement and R&D departments of automotive OEMs, leading tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers, and experts from industry associations, as well as mainstream journalists.
The selection of Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto Parts Suppliers Award 2010 was organized by China's noted auto industry e-commerce portal Gasgoo.com, under the aegis of China's Ministry of Commerce. Based on comprehensive investigation of China's auto parts industry, this major event was intended to reveal the changes in the competitive auto parts market and find out those truly strong suppliers who can maintain their competitive position for a long time.
Starting December 2009, the organizer has carried out a comprehensive evaluation of more than 3,000 companies, recommended by buyers and industry associations or selected based on companies' application or from Gasgoo.com database, through the event. Nine months later, the winners from five segment groups, including engine parts and components group, chassis components and parts group, group of automotive electrical and electronic components and parts, group of automotive electrical and electronic components as well as group of interior and exterior body parts, have finally been determined, by evaluation of 100 types of products. Following the rule of picking out one most competitive supplier from each type of product, a total of 100 auto parts suppliers were short-listed for Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto Parts Suppliers Award 2010.
