China Auto News of the Week (Jan. 4 - Jan. 9, 2009)

China passenger car sales rose 8% in Dec '08

Shanghai, January 9 (Gasgoo.com) China's passenger car sales rose more than 8% in December 2008 after seeing a big fall in November, Reuters reported Friday, citing an announcement from the China Passenger Car Association.

In December, passenger vehicle sales rose 8.1% year-on-year to 644,028 units while output down 18% year on year at 493,806 units, the association said.

(Click the title to read the full article)

Taiwan law-makers pass car tax cuts motion

Shanghai, January 8 (Gasgoo.com) Earlier this week, the Taiwan legislature's finance committee has approved the first reading of a motion proposed by the finance authorities to offer a commodity tax cut for small cars below 2,000cc, according to local news reports.

Under the proposal, all buyers who purchase small cars under 2,000cc before the end of 2010 will be offered a commodity tax cut of NT$30,000 for each car they buy. The proposal also applies to motorcycles, small pickup trucks and vans, Taibei Times reported Tuesday.

GM China '08 sales up 6.1% to 1.09mln units

Shanghai, January 7 (Gasgoo.com) GM China announced yesterday that General Motors sold 1,094,561 vehicles in China in 2008, up 6.1% from 2007. It is the first global automaker that sold over one million vehicles in China last year, xinhuanet.com said today.

The Chevrolet and Wuling brands saw the biggest growth in sales of GM China last year. In 2008, there were 199,155 China-made Chevrolet cars sold, up 15.7% year on year, and SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 606,499 Wuling-brand vehicles, up 17.4% y/y.

Yulon may team up with Geely to sell cheap cars

Yulon Motor Co, Taiwan’s largest automaker by market value, plans to team up with mainland-based Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd to build budget cars priced below NT$350,000 (US$10,600), hoping to boost sales, local media reported yesterday.

Yulon Motor is mulling over the idea of importing auto parts from Geely, which specializes in producing small budget cars, to be assembled at Yulon’s Sanyi plant in Miaoli, Taiwan's Economic Daily News reported Monday.

Chery Auto '08 sales down 6.6% on low demand

Shanghai, January 6 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Automobile Co, China's biggest domestic automaker, said its car sales fell to 356,000 units in 2008 from 381,000 a year earlier, down around 6.6 pct.

The sales result has made Chery the country's fifth largest carmaker in terms of the total sales volume in 2008, according to data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Perkins Engines starts production at Wuxi plant

Shanghai, January 6 (Gasgoo.com) Perkins Engines Company has begun production at its new manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China, near Shanghai, China Industry News reported today.

The company said the $29 million facility will also include a research and development facility as part of a multi-year investment plan.

Beiqi Foton, Daimler to form $929 mln truck JV

Major Chinese truck maker Beiqi Foton and Daimler AG have agreed to set up a 50-50 truck venture with total investment of 6.35 billion yuan ($929 million), securing the German company a foothold in China's truck sector.

Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co will start producing diesel engines in 2011 and trucks in 2012, with annual heavy-duty truck sales projected at 100,000 units from 2012 to 2015, the Chinese firm said on Wednesday.

SAIC offers nearly $20 mln to Ssangyong Motor

Shanghai, January 5 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC Motor Corp said on Monday it has provided 25.9 billion won ($19.89 million) to its struggling South Korean unit Ssangyong Motor, according to media reports.

The payment was part of funds the company has allocated to help Ssangyong develop new products, SAIC was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Government mulls new stimulus for auto export

Shanghai, January 5 (Gasgoo.com) China's Ministry of Commerce is mulling a new package to support the country's auto exports, which saw dramatic downturn in recent months, the Beijing News reported Monday.

"The high growth potential of auto export has made it a top priority for state support," said Xu Changming, director of the Economic Consultative Center of the China State Information Center. He says vehicle export is growing much more quickly than domestic auto sales.

Premier: plans worked out to boost auto industry

Shanghai, January 4 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government has finished drawing up policies to stimulate the steel and automobile industries, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday. He said the government is working on "a basket of measures" to stimulate market demands and prevent the economy from an excessive slowdown.

The nation's economic stimulus measures will go beyond the announced 4-trillion-yuan ($586 billion) package as more industry-specific policies are rolled out, Premier Wen said on Jan. 2 during his visit to Qingdao, a manufacturing and export hub in Shandong province. The government is refining and augmenting the package, because it was "rather preliminary" when announced on Nov. 9, he said.