China Auto News of the Week (December 17-21, 2007)

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 21 (Gasgoo.com) – China largest heavy truck-maker, Sinotruck, has become one of the five largest heavy truck makers throughout the world, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.

 

“Drawing upon its financing and technological strengths, Sinotruck will have the capacity to produce 500 heavy trucks a day next year and will have an annual capacity of 200,000 engines and 500,000 axles,” Ma Jichun, the company’s chairman of board, said yesterday on a business conference held in the truck-maker’s home city of Jinan, Shandong province.

 

"In the next five year, Sinotruck will have adequate capacity to compete with leading truck makers in the world in research and development,” Ma added.

 

Earlier this week, Sinotruck’s heavy truck output of this year has reached 100,000 units. The Shandong-based truck-maker is China’s largest heavy truck maker, which holds 20.8 percent of China's heavy truck market year to date.

 

Last month, Sinotruck went IPO in Hong Kong stock market, raising US$1.2 billion in an initial public offering.

 

This year, the truck maker has exported over 13,000 heavy trucks, leading China’s heavy truck exports for three consecutive years.

 

On December 7 Sinotruck reached a cooperation agreement with Russian largest heavy truck maker Likhachev-AMO ZIL. The two companies will form a 50-50 joint venture, HOWO-ZLL, which will assemble and sell Sinotruck-made HOWO heavy trucks. The joint venture is expected to be able to assemble 250,000 heavy trucks annually by 2012.

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 20 (Gasgoo.com) - Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday the company would increase its China sales by 17 percent to 490,000 units next year, a target that is 10,000 units more than the automaker's current capacity in China.

 

Currently, Honda has a total annual capacity of 480,000 units in China: Dongfeng Honda, where Honda CR-V and Honda Civic are made, has total capacity of 120,000 units and Guangzhou Honda, where Honda Accord, Fit are made, has a total capacity of 360,000 units.

 

In addition, Honda also have a 50,000 capacity to produce Honda Jazz in Guangzhou, but these vehicles are made for exports, therefore excluded in Honda's capacity in China.

                                                                                                     

"Honda will able to sell 420,000 vehicles by this year end, up 27 percent year on year," Honda President Takeo Fukui told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo, adding that he expects to take back the No.1 position in the middle-high segment of Chinese car market by selling 180,000 new Accord vehicles next year.

 

Globally, Honda sales are expected to rise six percent this year to a record 3.76 million vehicles from 3.55 million vehicles in 2006.

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 18 (Gasgoo.com) – Two Hyundai employees were arraigned by local police on charges of selling secret auto design data to Chinese automaker Jianghuai Automobile Corporation, Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported last Friday.

 

Korean persecutors said the two Hyundai technicians at issue had sold 270 pages of papers on Sonata transmission design  and 3000 pages of papers on car exterior and auto parts designs to China's Jianghuai Auto for USD$1.2 million.

 

A Swiss company hired by Jianghuai to manufacture these parts found that Jianghai's car designs are identical to Hyundai's and reported their findings to Hyundai Motors, the report said.

 

In response to this scandal, Jianghuai Automobile Corporation, or JAC for short, said they had no knowledge of Hyundai Motors' leaking story.

 

Jianghuai had been in cooperation with Hyundai Motors for years in production of commercial vehicles. For example, Jianghuai MPV Refine was developed from Hyundai's MPV H1. The cooperation finally came to an end when Hyundai decided to form a joint venture project with Guangzhou Auto.

 

Prior to this case, five former and active employees of Kia Motors were indicted in May for selling auto technologies to China. Persecutors said they delivered 57 pages of corporate secrets to a local consulting firm established by some of Kia's former employees since late last year. In Kia's leaking case, Data on welding, assembly and quality control were leaked to two unnamed Chinese automakers.

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 18 (Gasgoo.com) -Chrysler will start to sell its first batch of Dodge A1 sedan, the re-badged Chery A1 mini car, in Mexico very soon. This is the first successful move since the cooperation between the Chrysler and Chery, Xinhua News Agency reported today.

 

"Chery A1 cars, built at the company's Wuhu plant, will start to be sold as Dodge brand vehicles in Mexico as scheduled," a Chery official told reporters recently, but he declined to comment on sales target or distribution channels for the model.

 

Chery A1 is an updated subcompact model of Chery QQ with a 1.3-litre petrol engine designed to run at a top speed of 156 km/h. The new car, aimed at younger customers, is currently sold from 40,000 to 65,000 yuan (5,000 to 8,125 U.S. dollars) in Chinese market.

 

The move marks the cooperation between Chrysler and Chery has begun to bear fruit, said the official. Industry analysts say this heralds Chery's entry into the North America market.

 

At the beginning of this year German magazine Auto Motor und Sport quoted former DaimlerChrysler president CEO Zetsche's words as saying that "in a first step we are focusing on an existing Chery product only for Canada and Mexico, and in a second step we want to bring out a car defined by Chrysler."

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 18 (Gasgoo.com) – Five Chinese automaker will show up at the 2008 Detroit International Auto Show in January next year, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported today.

 

Chery Auto, Changfeng Motor Group, BYD Auto, Geely Auto and Zhongxing Auto will be show up at the auto show.

 

This will be the first time for BYD Auto and Zhongxing Auto to attend Detroit Auto Show. Chery, Changfeng and Geely have attended previous auto shows over last three years.

 

Changfeng will bring four models to the auto show, including its newly launched MPV vehicle Qilin. BYD will bring its trademark iron battery hybrid vehicle to the show.

 

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 17 (Gasgoo.com) – Shanghai GM will launch its Buick LaCrosse hybrid vehicle in Chinese market prior to the Beijing Olympic Games next year, Xinhua News Agency reported.

 

"The Buick LaCrosse hybrid will be based on Aura Green Line hybrid engine which has been showcased at the Guangzhou Auto Show,” an official from Shanghai GM told reporters.

 

Equipped with 2.4L Ecotec engine, the Saturn Aura Green Line hybrid is the first hybrid model that General Motors Corporation launched this year. The automaker said the Aura Green Line sedan will deliver at least a 25% fuel economy improvement over the non-hybrid Aura XE for a premium of less than $2,500.

 

The move will make Shanghai GM the third joint venture automaker to deliver a hybrid vehicle in China following Toyota and Honda. Toyota Motor Corp is currently the only carmaker that builds a hybrid car in China. Honda started to sell imported Civic hybrid in China starting late November.

 

Last week, China's first local brand hybrid vehicle Jiexun rolled off assembly in Changan Automobile. The hybrid vehicle can save up to 20 percent fuel consumption compared with conventional vehicles and its tailpipe emission can meet EU-IV standards.

 

 

 

Shanghai. December 18 (Gasgoo.com) – Nanjing Auto will acquire 5 percent to 8 percent or no more than 10 percent of SAIC’s stakes after the merger, according to an insider involved in the merger negotiations, Beijing Morning Post reported today.

 

Nanjing Auto and SAIC will reach a merger agreement in the near future. Under this agreement, SAIC will acquire all assets owned by Nanjing Auto, including OEM and component parts manufacturing facilities. In return, Nanjing Auto will acquire no more than 10 percent of SAIC’s stakes after the merger, according to sources involved in the talks.

 

Earlier in the negotiations, Nanjing Auto aimed to claim some 10% to 15% stake, which SAIC said is "overreaching." 

 

A due diligence report on Nanjing Auto conducted in October by SAIC estimated the company's total assets of Nanjing Auto at US$350 million, which is very small compared with SAIC's US$5.4 billion.

 

The two parties will jointly develop MG and Roewe brands based on Rover technology following the merger. The two companies currently are sharing the same technology, derived from the now-defunct British carmaker MG Rover.

 

Nanjing Auto launched production of two MG sports car models earlier this year after acquiring the ownership of British bankrupt car maker MG Rover Group by overbidding SAIC in July 2005. SAIC bought the ownership of two Rover models but not the brand name; instead, the company made a new brand name: Roewe marque.