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China Auto News of the Week (March 17-21, 2008)
Ford reshuffles executive team for Asia-Pacific operations
Shanghai. March 21 (Gasgoo.com) - Ford Motor Co. announced a series of appointments for top executives in charge of Asia-pacific operations today.
Mr. Mei-Wei Cheng, current chairman and chief executive of Ford Motor China, is appointed as group vice president as well as executive chairman of Ford Motor China.
Robert J. Graziano is named as president and chief executive of Ford Motor China. He currently serves as group vice president of Ford and executive vice president for Mazda Motor. Graziano joined Ford in 1982 and used to serve as president and CEO of Ford Motor of South Africa.
Philip G. Spender, currently chief operating officer of Ford Motor China is named as vice president of Ford and executive vice president of Mazda Motor. Spender worked for Ford for 32 years and took an important role in establishing and expanding business of ChangAn Ford Mazda Co., a three-way joint venture in China.
All the appointments will take effect as of April 1.
Ford Motor sold 216, 324 Ford-brand vehicles in Chinese market last year, up 30 percent from one year earlier, according to the company's earlier announcement. But as The Detroit News revealed, the automaker missed its goals for market share and localization rate of components.
China sees strong heavy truck sales in Jan-Feb
By Tony
Shanghai. March 21 (Gasgoo.com) – China has seen a strong surge of heavy-duty truck sales in the first two months of this year and the momentum is unlikely to subside in the first half of this year, according to the Beijing-based newspaper China Automotive Industry News.
China’s biggest heavy-truck maker China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co sold 17,925 heavy duty trucks in the first two months, up 40 percent from one year earlier; While China’s second heavy truck maker, Shaanxi Heavy Truck Co sold 9,000 heavy-duty trucks in the same period.
Industry insiders say the strong surge of heavy truck sales is related to a new regulation stipulated by China’s Environmental Protection Agency. Under the new regulation, China will ban all production and sales of heavy trucks that cannot meet EU-III emission standards as of July 1 of this year.
Heavy-duty trucks complying EU-III emission standards cost RMB 30,000-40,000 than a similar trucks that meet EU-II standards, according to a Beiqi Foton heavy truck sales official.
Sales of heavy duty truck may become more vigorous in March and April because both heavy truck makers and buyer to complete their deal before the ban comes into effect in July, according to the Beiqi Foton sales official.
Since many heavy truck makers expect a slump market in the second half, they expect to complete 60%-70% of the full-year target in the first half year.
FAW to sell mini car production unit at $42,500
By Ally
Shanghai. March 21 (Gasgoo.com) – China’s FAW Group Corporation plans to sell 100% stakes of its subsidiary FAW Huali (Tianjin) Motor Co. for RMB 300,000 ($42,461), Chinese newspaper National Business Daily reported.
The report said the total assets of FAW Huali are evaluated at RMB 789 million ($112 M), while net assets totaled 242,500 yuan ($34,323). Last year company lost RMB 131 million ($18.4 M).
The seller says buyers must meet two prerequisites: First, the buyer must be a domestic OEM automaker with a registered capital of no less than RMB1.6 billion ($226.62 million) and the buyer must be able to turn FAW Huali into a 150,000 sedan maker; secondly, the buyer will be responsible for all FAW Huali liabilities.
FAW Huali was established in June 2002 and has a capacity of 180,000 vehicles annually. Its main products include Toyota Vela, Daihatsu Terios and minivans and some own brand electric passenger cars. The automaker has been losing money for years before its production was halted one year earlier.
China sees strong heavy truck sales in Jan-Feb
By Tony
Shanghai. March 21 (Gasgoo.com) – China has seen a strong surge of heavy-duty truck sales in the first two months of this year and the momentum is unlikely to subside in the first half of this year, according to the Beijing-based newspaper China Automotive Industry News.
China’s biggest heavy-truck maker China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co sold 17,925 heavy duty trucks in the first two months, up 40 percent from one year earlier; While China’s second heavy truck maker, Shaanxi Heavy Truck Co sold 9,000 heavy-duty trucks in the same period.
Industry insiders say the strong surge of heavy truck sales is related to a new regulation stipulated by China’s Environmental Protection Agency. Under the new regulation, China will ban all production and sales of heavy trucks that cannot meet EU-III emission standards as of July 1 of this year.
Heavy-duty trucks complying EU-III emission standards cost RMB 30,000-40,000 than a similar trucks that meet EU-II standards, according to a Beiqi Foton heavy truck sales official.
Sales of heavy duty truck may become more vigorous in March and April because both heavy truck makers and buyer to complete their deal before the ban comes into effect in July, according to the Beiqi Foton sales official.
Since many heavy truck makers expect a slump market in the second half, they expect to complete 60%-70% of the full-year target in the first half year.
Cadillac sales surge 149% in Chinese market
By Tony
Shanghai. March 21 (Gasgoo.com) –Cadillac sales in China rose 149 percent to 4,028 vehicles in 2007, making China one of the fastest growing markets for this world class luxurious car.
"China is likely to become Cadillac’s second largest market worldwide after the United States this year,” said Ding Lei, general manager of Shanghai General Motors, adding that Canada is Cadillac’s another fastest growing market.
Cadillac’s global sales manager John F. Howell said the Chinese market has an enormous potential for Cadillac vehicles. He also revealed that Cadillac sold 190,000 vehicles in North American market last year and 25,000-30,000 vehicles in markets outside North America.
Shanghai General Motors announced last week to introduce four Cadillac CTS models to Chinese market via importation in efforts to gain a bigger share in China's booming luxury car market.
Priced between RMB370,000 ($52,000) and RMB 550,000 ($77,640), the 2008 Cadillac CTS will come to China in four editions, including two 2.8L and two 3.6L models.
"China’s luxury vehicle market has experienced an annual growth of more than 50 percent since 2005, much faster than the industry average," Ding Lei, General Manager of Shanghai GM told Shanghai Securities News.
The table below shows Cadillac sales in Chinese market in 2007.
|
Cadillac CTS
|
2,112
|
-4.50%
|
|
Cadillac XLR
|
21
|
133.30%
|
|
Cadillac SLS
|
4,380
|
n.a.
|
|
Cadillac SRX
|
354
|
-41.90%
|
|
Cadillac Escalade
|
161
|
n.a.
|
|
TOTAL
|
7,028
|
|
Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
China backs Audi's diesel engine initiative
By Ally
Shanghai. March 20 (Gasgoo.com) A senior Audi official said that the company has won Chinese government support to launch diesel models in China by 2010 or so.
At the sidelines of the company's annual press conference in Ingolstadt last week, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, said that Chinese government pledged to improve the quality of diesel fuel sold in China in an effort to pave the way for Audi's launch of diesel vehicles in the country by 2010.
Stadler said the company will particularly focus on diesel technology to reduce emissions. "Our TDI will become the cleanest diesel in the world this year, and will achieve this through our ultra low emission system," Stadler said. This will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 percent.
Currently diesels sold in Chinese market have a high sulphur content which can't meet the requirements of Audi's diesel engines. In addition, the Chinese government has been restricting the use of diesel vehicles in market for environmental reasons.
Audi has reported record figures with 101,996 cars sold in China (including Hong Kong) last year, up 24.8 percent year on year. The figure makes Audi the first premium carmaker sell more than 100,000 cars in China.
VW to inject 2.4 billion euros in China by 2010
By Joanne Jiu
Shanghai. March 19 (Gasgoo.com) – As part of its 20-billion-eruo global investment plan, German automaker Volkswagen AG will invest 2.4 billion euros to develop new products and increase the production output in China by the end of 2010, China Auto News reported today.
Of the 2.4 billion euros VW will invest in Chinese market, 70 percent will be funded to develop new products, said Dr. Winfried Vahland, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, adding that another 500 million euros will be used to develop power train system and the reminder will be funneled to boost output capacity.
Vahland made the remarks at VW's annual media conference in Wolfsburg last Thursday.
VW group sold a company record of almost 6.2 million cars worldwide in 2007, with the profit up 50 percent. The company plans to offer more than 20 new models in the next three years, aiming to boost sales to eight million vehicles in 2011 and close the gap with Toyota.
G.M. brings 4 Cadillac CTS models to China, priced $52,000-$77,000
By Ally
Shanghai. March 19 (Gasgoo.com) - Shanghai General Motors will introduce four Cadillac CTS models to Chinese market via importation in efforts to gain a bigger share in China's booming luxury car market, the company announced yesterday.
Priced between RMB370,000 ($52,000) and RMB 550,000 ($77,640), the 2008 Cadillac CTS will come to China in four editions, including two 2.8L and two 3.6L models.
"China’s luxury vehicle market has experienced an annual growth of more than 50 percent since 2005, much faster than the industry average," Ding Lei, General Manager of Shanghai GM told Shanghai Securities News.
In 2007 Cadillac sales rose around 30 percent globally, while the growth in China is 150 percent from the previous year, making China the fastest growing market across the world.
Earlier this year GM unveiled the 2008 Cadillac CTS at the Detroit Auto Show. For the first time, the 2008 CTS will be available in both rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations. Additionally, the transmission lineup now consists only of six-speed units – an Aisin six-speed manual or – new for CTS – a Hydra-Matic 6L50 six-speed automatic.
The 3.6L High Feature (HF) V6 will feature direction injection and is good for over 300 HP on regular gasoline. It'll be backed by GM's new 6-speed automatic.
The 2.8L VVT engine will be available only on rear-drive export models of the CTS. The all-aluminum, 60-degree DOHC, four-valve-per-cylinder engine develops 210 horsepower (156 kW) at 6500 rpm and 194 lb.-ft. (263 Nm) of torque at 3200 rpm.
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