There’s a new kid in Los Angeles, BYD. The Chinese battery and electric car manufacturer opened its California office today. BYD says it will bring 150 green-collar engineering and management jobs to the city. The event highlight, however, is a deal between BYD and Hertz to provide airport shuttles to the rental agency. This could prove...
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While currently operating brands Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Wuling in China, the very first China division GM crossover, the Buick Envision, will come to market next year, according to a report from the Beijing Times Newspaper. Shanghai GM first introduced the Envision concept at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show and presented a very progressive shape,...
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U.S. private equity firm North Street Capital will give Saab a $70 million investment, including an equity stake worth $10 million and a $60 million loan to the ailing car maker. With Chinese-backed financing looking increasingly unlikely, the investment from North Street Capital, a firm run by auto enthusiast Alex Mascioli, will give Saab the...
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The administrator in charge of the Saab bankruptcy proceedings has told a Swedish court that the process must stop. “The money is not enough to continue the reorganization,”said Guy Lofalk in an interview with Reuters. “Now, an application [to terminate the reorganization] has been mailed. It should be on the court’s desk tomorrow.” Lofalk said...
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For the past decade, China’s economy has continued to expand with little sign of slowing down. Volkswagen took advantage of an opportunity to continue offering its past models such as the Volkswagen “Jetta King” (Mk2 Jetta), the Volkswagen Bora Classic (Mk4 Jetta), as well as various Audi vehicles in the Chinese market in order to...
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For the second year in a row, General Motors has sold 2 million vehicles in China, with 10 weeks left in the calender year 2011. GM reported strong demand for Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles, up 24, 18 and 73 percent respectively. General Motors’ SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture also reached a milestone, selling its 1 millionth...
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General Motors unveiled their new family of small displacement engines, a group of three and four cylinder engines ranging from 1.0L to 1.5L in displacement. The engines were designed in concert largely with GM’s Chinese subsidiaries. GM didn’t divulge which vehicles will get the new engines, but did say that North America won’t be an...
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A contracting economy and a governmental push to limit the number of new cars in certain metropolitan areas has led luxury car makers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz to offer discounts of up to 20 percent on their cars in China. While the three car makers are hoping to post record sales numbers, many “aspirational”...
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U.S. private equity firm North Street Capital, has purchased Spyker, after a deal to sell the Dutch outfit to Russian investors fell through. The Financial Times reported the news after viewing a preliminary draft of the announcement. It’s unclear how the Spyker sale will impact parent company Swedish Automobile, and its attempts to restructure Saab,...
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A report by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants claims that by 2015, Brazil will be the world’s third largest auto market, with China and the United States occupying the first and second slots respectively. Brazil will displace Japan as the third largest market, as sales are expected to double to 6.6 million vehicles by 2020. The...
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Ford may begin building electric cars in China via joint ventures with Chinese auto makers, replicating the tactics of rivals like General Motors and Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz. China is looking to add 1 million EVs by 2015 as part of an effort to curb emissions and the dependence on fossil fuels. Ford...
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There’s something really Chinese about the Volvo Concept You but I just can’t quite put my finger on it. And I’m actually Chinese. That there is an oriental feel shouldn’t be a surprise. The Concept You is an evolution of the Concept Universe revealed earlier this year at Auto Shanghai earlier this year. Volvo sought...
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Surprisingly, large segments of Americans are willing to buy Chinese made cars. Market research company GfK Automotive did its annual Barometer of Automotive Awareness and Imagery, and found that 38 percent of the respondents would consider buying a Chinese car. According to the study, “The openness to purchasing a Chinese and Indian vehicle is highest among...
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Fiat CEO and the auto industry’s wise old grandpa, Sergio Marchionne, warned the industry that “the day of reckoning is inevitably coming,” when Chinese automakers begin exporting on a massive scale. Marchionne is usually regarded as being “usually four steps ahead of everybody else,” according to Chrysler executives. It’s no surprise then that his warning,...
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Google isn’t alone in its plan to bring autonomous cars to roads near you. There is now at lest one other major player, with the National University of Defense Technology in China having built a self-driving project of its own. Working with China’s First Auto Works, the university researchers took a Hongqi HQ3 sedan and...
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The masses have spoken, and they are numerous: China’s rapidly-growing car consumers are more likely to choose European brands than two years ago, instead of Japanese and homegrown Chinese cars. J.D. Powers surveyed China’s buying habits, and found that 32% would buy a European car—up from just 25% in 2009. The figures for Japanese car...
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China has just opened the world’s longest cross-sea bridge spanning 26 miles (42 kilometers) end to end. The Jiaozhou Bay bridge links China’s eastern port city of Qingdao to the island of Huangdao. The bridge is 110 feet wide, is the longest of its kind and cost a whopping $1.5 billion to build. The bridge...
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With the rise of turbochargers as a “green” technology, the lifespan of superchargers looked numbers as their popularity decreased, with the belt driven forced induction systems appearing only on high-end V6 and V8 powered sports cars. While superchargers delivery power in a smooth, linear manner, their cost, complexity and noise has relegated them to near...
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Volvo’s corporate overlords Geely will open a second plant in China, citing that Chinese production is a key factor in the Swedish company’s growth. The current Chinese plant is located in Daqing, an oil-rich region in northeast China that provided Geely with a majority of the $2.7 billion needed to buy Volvo from Ford. Now,...
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Warren Buffett and Chinese carmaker BYD have raised 1.4 billion yuan, or $219 million, in their initial public offering in Shenzhen. While seemingly impressive, the figure was below expectations. Investors were worried over how well the company would perform, and lacked confidence for the company. BYD had hoped to raise 2.19 billion yuan, or another $34...
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Saab halted production yesterday at its Trollhattan plant in Sweden after operations were disrupted by problems with supplier deliveries. Saab resumed production on May 27 after shutting down from April to May due to non existent operating capital. Suppliers became worried about receiving payment and stopped supplying the Swedish plant. Saab began a deal with Chinese car distributor Pang Da...
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Volkswagen has launched a new platform called “People’s Car Project” debuting in China. This allows internet users in China to post ideas about cars of the future at zaoche.cn. This project is hoping to inspire the Chinese with VW through the interactive content. The aim is for users to co-develop their Volkswagen model of the...
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As part of Spyker’s capital-raising efforts for its ailing Saab brand, the Dutch automaker is entering into talks with Chinese automotive company Pang Da, and will have to rename itself as Swedish Automobile N.V. as part of the deal. In return, Saab will get a $42 million cash payment, ostensibly to help pay Saab’s substantial...
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With the apparent collapse of the deal between Hawtai and Spyker, the Dutch parent company of Saab is now courting Chinese automaker Great Wall in an apparent bid to find a partner for the ailing Saab brand. Hawtai was apparently unable to get the necessary approval to complete a transaction with Saab worth 150 million...
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