China Auto News of the Week (Mar. 2 - Mar. 6, 2009)

Ford to launch new Fiesta in Hainan tonight

Shanghai, March 6 (Gasgoo.com) Ford Motor Co will hold a launching ceremony for its new four-door Fiesta sedan and hatchback on China's southern resort island of Hainan on Friday evening, the company said in a statement.

China is the world's first market to introduce the four-door Fiesta sedan, which indicates the significance of the China market in Ford's global strategy, the company said.

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Chery Auto gets green light to buy Volvo brand

Shanghai, March 6 (Gasgoo.com) Sources revealed yesterday that China's top economic planner has approved of Chery Auto's plan to buy the Volvo brand from Ford Motor, Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported today. But the report is not confirmed yet by Chery Auto.

The media report added that another Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor has also submitted its Volvo-bidding plan to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). However, the company's spokesman denied such a move yesterday.

GM raises China forecast as gov't aids auto sales

General Motors Corp., the biggest overseas automaker in China, raised its forecast for the nation’s auto sales this year after the government took steps to spur demand.

Industrywide sales may grow between 5 percent and 10 percent this year, compared with an earlier forecast for an increase of less than 3 percent, GM Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly said in Shanghai yesterday. The automaker expects its own growth to outperform the market by as much as 3 percentage points, he added.

Guangzhou Auto to roll out own-brand cars in '10

Shanghai, March 5 (Gasgoo.com)  Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd (GAC), who operates joint ventures with Honda Motor and Toyota Motor, has said it will roll out the first batch of production cars under its own brand in August 2010, local media reported today.

"The first production car will be a mid- and high-end model powered by a 2.0L engine," said Zeng Qinghong, general manager of Guangzhou Auto and deputy to the National People's Congress.

Dongfeng, Geely say no talks on bid for GM's Saab

Shanghai, March 5 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automakers Dongfeng Motor Group and Geely Automotive Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday that they have not held any talks over a possible bid for General Motors' Saab brand, Reuters reported.

A Dongfeng spokesman added he was unaware of any interest by his company in bidding for the Saab brand. And a senior Geely executive, when asked about his company's possible acquisition of Saab or other brands, told reporters: "No, we did not. We're not interested in Saab or the other brands out there."

Geely CEO hypes methanol cars to planners

Shanghai, March 4 (Gasgoo.com) Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd and member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is proposing a motion to the government's industry planning bodies to work out a national standard for production of methanol-powered vehicles.

"Replacing gasoline engine cars with methanol engine cars should be encouraged because methanol engine cars are much cleaner than other types of new energy products and their production costs are lower," Li said in a proposal submitted to CPPCC on Monday.

Auto industry boost plans to be issued one by one

Shanghai, March 4 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government has not issued the detailed items of its auto industry plans this week as expected, but will release them one by one throughout the year, sina.com said today. Though not officially issued, these plans have already been revealed to state media.

According to the media report, these plans and their detailed items are scheduled for one-by-one release from March to December this year.

Carmakers warned on overseas acquisitions

Shanghai, March 3 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government has warned automakers against acquiring assets from struggling overseas rivals, Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday.

"Chinese car makers are not strong enough to participate in cooperation with big global players, " said Chen Bin, head of the industry co-ordination department of the National Development and Reform Commission of China.

Nissan NV200 mini-van to be China-made in '09

Shanghai, March 3 (Gasgoo.com) Nissan Motor unveiled its NV200 at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show today. The new compact van will also be showcased at next month's 2009 Shanghai Auto Show and will be produced in China by Zhengzhou Nissan within the year, auto.sina.com said, citing Nissan Motor vice president Andy Palmer.

As a commercial domestic vehicle, the NV 200 is quite popular in Europe, but it's still a newborn in China. Andy Palmer said he is confident about the NV200's prospect in the Chinese market as the new model can better meet the consumer demands in safety, comfort, status and price.

Renault to bring 14 new models to China by 2011

Shanghai, March 2 (Gasgoo.com) On Feb 26, French carmaker Renault began to sell its imported new Laguna car in China and announced it will bring 14 new models to the Chinese market in the 2009-2011 period, xinhuanet.com said today.

The new Renault vehicle models to be imported to China will include SUV, MPV, sedan and RS models. Of the 14 new Renault models, the all-new Laguna went on sale in China last week, priced at 298,000 yuan ($43,630), and the new Koleos, Renault's first crossover SUV model, will be imported to the Chinese market next month to compete with numerous city SUVs locally made in China. Its retail price may start from 242,000 yuan.

Chery Auto launches hybrid-car offensive

Shanghai, March 2 (Gasgoo.com) Not long after unveiling its first electric car called the S18, China's Chery Auto said it plans to launch two more hybrid cars this year to tap into the growing hybrid car market, reported Shanghai Securities News.

An unnamed Chery engineer told the newspaper that Chery Auto would launch an A5 hybrid car this year and an A3 hybrid in 2010. Also a Tiggo-based hynrid SUV model and a QQ-based pure electric model are under development though no timeline was set for their launch.