China Auto News of the Week (Dec. 22 - Dec. 26, 2008)

Ssangyong Motor may get Korean govt support

Shanghai, December 26 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC's Korean unit Ssangyong Motor Co, the troubled sport-utility vehicle maker, may get support from the South Korean government, Reuters reported on Friday.

The report quoted a Korean ministry's new year policy release as saying the government "will consider measures to lend liquidity support to some automakers, centered around creditor institutions."

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SAIC-GM-Wuling not to be affected by GM crisis

Shanghai, December 25 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker SAIC GM Wuling Auto Co., Ltd. (SGMW), a Chinese joint venture of General Motors, has developed its own capabilities and will not be affected by the GM crisis, even if the U.S. partner goes bankrupt, said a top executive of the venture on Tuesday to Beijing Times. But the company will be more cautious about future investment.

Peng Wunian, newly appointed general manager of SGMW, told the Beijing newspaper that the bankruptcy crisis of GM will have little impact on its Chinese operations, even less on the SAIC-GM-Wuling venture. The SGMW venture has developed its independent "blood-making" functions and its own strong capabilities can drive its sustainable growth even if the U.S. automaker drops out of the partnership.

China-made Hyundai Sonata sedan goes on sale

Shanghai, December 24 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Hyundai launched its flagship sedan model Sonata ("Ling Xiang" in Chinese) to market yesterday. The China-made Sonata model comes with six 2.0L and 2.4L editions priced from 155,800 yuan ($22,800) to 228,800 yuan, said sina.com today. The joint venture aims to sell 40,000 units of its Ling Xiang sedan in 2009.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top carmaker, said in a statement that the move is part of an effort to woo customers in China. The launch of the China-made Sonata sedan comes as many analysts expect Hyundai to miss this year's sales target there. Hyundai originally planned to sell 380,000 vehicles in China this year, but has sold just 253,146 units in the first 11 months of 2008.

China announces '08 best-selling sedan models

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers recently announced the top 10 sedan models in regards to sales volume from January to November this year. They are, in order, Jetta, Santana, Excelle, Corolla, Accord, Camry, F3, QQ, Xiali and Elantra.

As of November, the sales volume of sedans had totaled over 4.6 million nationwide, of which, 1.4269 million were of the above 10 models, accounting for 31% of total sedan sales. Pillars in the automobile industry, such as Jetta and Santana, are still leading the Chinese sedan market. F3 and QQ, both domestic models, respectively rank 7th and 8th, with sales volumes of 119,703 and 117,452.

Chinese Premier: gvmt should support auto industry

Shanghai, December 23 (Gasgoo.com) During his inspection tour of the southwestern city of Chongqing on Dec 21-22, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao expressed great concerns over the negative impacts of the global financial crisis on the city's automobile development and said the auto industry should be strongly supported by the government.

"Companies must not lay off workers easily," Wen said at a workshop of the city's carmaker Changan Group, which may cut more staff over the next four months after sales declined in November.

China to fight fastener dumping allegations of EU

Shanghai, December 23 (Gasgoo.com) The China Industrial Fastener Association plans to give evidence to defend themselves against the fastener dumping allegations from the European Union and may launch a similar anti-dumping appeal to EU if necessary, said Feng Jinyao, president of the Association, China Business Daily reported.

Feng Jinyao told reporters on the sideline of an industry meeting in the weekend that domestic fastener companies are collecting evidence to launch a legal fight against the claim and the Ministry of Commerce may present a similar lawsuit against the EU to the World Trade Organization, suing them for dumping high-end European fasteners and preventing the Chinese industry from moving up the value chain.

China auto industry faces pay cut, layoff in 2009

Nearly half of China's car manufacturers are planning to cut salaries and discharge employees in 2009 to cope with the market downturn amid the financial crisis, a survey said on Dec 22.

Foreseeing a further stagnation in auto sales in the first half of 2009, 71.4 percent of the domestically-listed auto companies polled said they will reduce their production volume while 42.9 percent are considering pay cuts and layoffs, said the survey conducted by Security Times.

Murtaugh's quitting shows Chrysler's woes in China

Shanghai, December 22 (Gasgoo.com) Troubled by the financial crisis, U.S. auto giant Chrysler LLC announced on Friday that Philip F. Murtaugh, the chief executive of its Asia operations, will leave the company soon, according to a local media report.

Mr. Murtaugh is well known in China’s auto industry for his knowledge of the local market. He spent ten years in directing General Motors' expansion in China, and then joined Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) in June 2006. In September 2007 he was brought in to help Chrysler expand its China operations.