China Auto News of the Week (Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2009)

GM launches $293 mln LCV venture with FAW in China

Shanghai, August 31 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors announced on Sunday the establishment of a 50-50 light commercial vehicle joint venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group Corp.

GM said in a statement that the two companies are making a combined investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million) for the new company, and will significantly expand FAW's existing light commercial truck business,

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Mercedes-Benz launches new S-Class in China

Shanghai, August 31 (Gasgoo.com) Daimler's premium brand Mercedes-Benz started the China sale of the ninth generation S-Class luxury sedans in Beijing on Friday, xinhuanet.com reported. The German carmaker expects the 2010 S-Class to keep its lead in the country's luxury car segment.

The full array of the imported new S-Class luxury sedans includes nine versions with engine sizes ranging from 3.0 liters to 6.0 liters and will sell in the Chinese market for between 930,000 yuan ($136,144) and 2.59 million yuan. The new S-Class also includes the S400 Hybrid featuring a hybrid drive with a lithium-ion battery.

VW names Rieck president of Skoda China

Shanghai, September 1 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen AG said yesterday that it has appointed Alfred Rieck as president of its growing Skoda Auto A.S. unit in China (Skoda China) and executive vice president of Volkswagen Group China, effective today, Dow Jones reported.

Rieck has been the managing director in charge of the Skoda brand in Germany since 2006, the German auto maker said in a statement. Before that, he was a senior leader in charge of sales and marketing for Volkswagen's luxury cars.

GM operations outside N. America report to Shanghai

Shanghai, September 1 (Gasgoo.com) One aspect of General Motors' management reorganization that went widely unnoticed was a shift in power from Detroit to Shanghai. Except for Opel, all GM operations outside North America answer to executives in Shanghai, the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday.

Nick Reilly went from overseeing GM's Asia operations based in Shanghai to overseeing all of the automaker's operations outside of North America, with the exception of Germany-based Opel, which is up for sale. So while GM's Canada and Mexico operations report through the United States, most of the rest of the world reports through China.

Shanghai GM sales double to 63,303 cars in Aug

Shanghai, September 2 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai GM, a passenger car venture between General Motors and SAIC Motor, sold 63,303 vehicles in August, nearly double the figure of a year earlier, media reported today.

The robust sales, helped by new models and an industry-wide rebound, also jumped from the JV's July sales of 56,489 units, and set its new monthly sales record, General Motors said yesterday in a statement.

Beiqi Foton launches new-energy vehicle R&D center

Shanghai, September 2 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese truck-maker Beiqi Foton Motor has launched its new alternative-fuel vehicle research and development (R&D) center in Beijing recently.

The center, the largest of its kind in China, will have the capability to produce 11,500 alternative-fuel vehicles by the end of 2010.

GM boosts China forecast, expecting 40% growth

General Motors Co. said Wednesday its sales growth in China, its fastest growing market, should exceed 40% this year after August sales more than doubled from a year earlier.

The jump in sales, spurred by new models and favorable vehicle-purchase policies from Beijing, continued a series of single-month records that began in January. It helped to push the U.S. auto maker's unit sales to 1.11 million for the first eight months of this year, outpacing its total for 2008.

Chery to start selling electric car S18 in mid-2010

Shanghai, September 3 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Auto, China's largest maker of own-brand cars, will start selling its first plug-in electric car model S18 around June, 2010, as the government urges automakers to offer more eco-friendly vehicles, Bloomberg reported today.

The company expects to sell about 30,000 S18 electric cars within three or four years, Fang Yunzhou, vice president of Chery's new energy vehicle operations, said in an interview in Shanghai today. The car will cost as much as 130,000 yuan ($19,000). Chery unveiled the S18 model in February.

Mazda China sales rose 42 pct in Aug to 14,418 units

Shanghai, September 4 (Gasgoo.com) Mazda Motor Corp said Friday its retail car sales in China in August rose 42 percent from a year earlier to 14,418 units.

China sales of Mazda cars in the first eight months this year were 106,301 units, up 27 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese car maker said in a statement.

VW's Golf GTI to be China made by March 2010

Shanghai, September 4 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen's Golf GTI is expected to be put into production in China at the FAW-VW joint venture by March next year, xinhuanet.com reported today.

The Golf GTI has been imported to the Chinese market for sale, with both the three-door and five-door models available. Following its recent roll-out of the sixth generation Golf, FAW-VW will produce the Golf GTI soon, which is likely to carry the locally made 2.0TSI engine and six-speed DSG gearbox.