China Auto News of the Week (Feb. 9 - Feb. 13, 2009)

Chery said possible to buy Europe car brand

Shanghai, February 13 (Gasgoo.com) President and CEO of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. said yesterday that his company would not rule out the possibility of buying a troubled European auto brand, Beijing Times reported. Volvo is believed to be one of the choices.

Yin Tongyao told the newspaper that Chery Auto is in preliminary talks with several European automakers about a possible acquisition but he declined to comment on whether they include Volvo.

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GM denies plan to sell stakes in China venture

By Ally  From:Gasgoo.comFebruary 13, 2009

Shanghai, February 13 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors Corp has no plan to sell stakes in its China joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp to SAIC, GM China spokesman Henry Wong told the media on Friday, Reuters reported.

Yesterday, GM was reported to have held talks with SAIC recently to sell some of its stake in their 50-50 joint venture that builds and sells Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet models in China, but the report was soon denied by the automaker.

Nissan to lift '09 China sales 4.6% to 570,000 units

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third-largest carmaker, said today it aimed to boost its Nissan-brand vehicle sales in China by 4.6% from last year to 570,000 units in 2009, finance.baidu.com said today.

The sales growth is to slow from last year. Nissan's sales in China grew 19% in 2008 to 545,000 units, much above a 7.4% rise in China's overall passenger car market. Sales rose as Nissan introduced seven new models in China in 2008, including the Teana sedan and three Infiniti-brand models. Still, Nissan expects its first loss in nine years as sales plunge in the U.S. (its biggest market), Europe and Japan.

Great Wall to lift sedan sales 800% in '09

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. sold 15,000 vehicles in January 2009, hitting a record high in its monthly sales. Building on this beginning success, the company aims to boost its vehicle sales 60% to 200,000 units this year, including 80,000 sedans, up 800% from last year, said China Youth Daily today.

Shanghai VW leads China's Jan car sales

Shanghai, February 11 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Volkswagen, a joint venture between the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and German Volkswagen, replaced FAW VW as the market leader in January with sales hitting 40,000 units, the Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, citing data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The top ten Chinese carmakers in terms of sales in January were Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Nissan, Chery, Guangzhou Honda, Geely, FAW Toyota and BYD, with sales of 40,000 units, 38,800 units, 32,700 units, 32,600 units, 26,300 units, 25,300 units, 21,600 units, 20,400 units, 19,200 units and 18,600 units, respectively. 

Top 10 CV makers sell 82,900 vehicles in Jan

Shanghai, February 11 (Gasgoo.com) China's top 10 commercial vehicle makers in terms of January sales sold a total of 82,900 vehicles last month, accounting for 66 percent of the total, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Tuesday.

The top 10 commercial vehicle makers were Beiqi Foton Motor Co, Dongfeng Motor Co, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co, Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co, Shandong KAMA Automobile Manufacturing Co, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co, FAW Group, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Great Wall Motor Co and Nanjing Auto.

Beijing Auto aims to earn $14.7 bln in '09 sales

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company has announced that it aims to achieve 100 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) in sales revenue this year, up 34.3% from 2008, said Beijing Times today. This ambititious target can undoubtedly inject much confidence into the Chinese auto market.

The top management of Beijing Auto seem to be sure of generating more than 100 billion yuan in this year's auto sales: both the central government has released a series of auto industry incentives and Beijing municipality will also issue its local policies to support the auto market, which may see a double-digit growth this year.

China passes U.S. to be No.1 auto market in Jan

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Largely due to the plunge in American car sales, China overtook the U.S. in monthly vehicle sales in January 2009 for the first time to be the world's No.1 auto market for the month, according to data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) today, state media reported.

The Chinese auto industry association CAAM said Tuesday that 735,000 vehicles were sold in China in January. That surpasses the 656,976 vehicles sold in the U.S. the same month. If China can outpace the United States in sales for all of 2009, it will become the world's largest vehicle market.

Roewe, MG sales teams merged to cut cost

Shanghai, February 9 (Gasgoo.com) Last week, SAIC's affiliated Roewe, and the sales division of Nanjing MG Auto Co., Ltd. moved out of their former offices to the building of their parent's technology center in Shanghai, said sina.com today. In its effort to cut costs, SAIC is merging the sales networks of the Roewe and MG brands.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) plans to gain nearly 1% more profits through cutting costs in 2009, as a measure to fight against the worldwide financial crisis that started in the second half of last year. The 1% profit is not only a target set for the parent, but also each affiliate, to be achieved by by lessening expenditures, and lowering salaries of top executives.

China quite likely to pass U.S. in '09 auto sales

Shanghai, February 9 (Gasgoo.com) A senior state official said China is quite possible to overtake the United States as the World No.1 car market for all of 2009, but he also warned against over-optimism, according to a newspaper report on Monday.

"Chinese auto sales are expected to grow 4% to 5% from 9.38 million units sold last year, more than the estimated 9 million unit sales in the U.S. this year," Xu Changming, director of the economic consultative center under the State Information Center, told National Business Daily.