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  • China’s Chery to set up assembly plant in Vietnam

    In Cars, Chery, China / By / / 20 comments

    Chery has signed an agreement with a Vietnamese company to assemble and sell vehicles in the ASEAN country, the Chinese car company revealed, although no further details were furnished.

    The Vietnam plant will become Chery’s 17th CKD plant outside of China, but they won’t be the first Chinese carmaker setting up shop in the fast growing country – Great Wall Motor and Chongqing Lifan Industry (Group) Co already have CKD plants in Vietnam.

    Global giants Toyota, Ford and GM, as well as Suzuki, already assemble vehicles in Vietnam, which has a population of 90 million people and a per capita GDP of $1,200, according to Chery.

    Chery has been rather active, and fast growing. The Anhui-based state owned company saw strong export performance in 2011, and their next target is Europe. Back home, it recently struck a US$2.8 billion deal to build both Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in China, for the Chinese market.

     

  • China’s Brilliance hires Pininfarina man Dimitri Vicedomini

    In Brilliance, Cars, China / By / / 24 comments

    China’s Brilliance makes decent looking cars compared to its local rivals, and a lot of the good work comes from the famous Italian design house Pininfarina. The former loves Pininfarina’s designs so much that they’ve decided to hire the man who penned them.

    The Pininfarina designer in question is Dimitri Vicedomini, who has 15 years of design experience. He previously led a Pininfarina team to design and modify several Brilliance models, including the BS4 Splendor (pic below) and Zhonghua H530 saloons.

    Brilliance Auto, based in Shenyang, northeast China, sold 30,446 Brilliance-branded cars and 69,354 Jinbei vans in the first quarter of 2012. It is also the local partner for BMW.

    Chinese carmakers using Western designers is no new phenomenon. Recent examples include Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp hiring former Ferrari designer Leonardo Fioravanti as consultant and Geely naming Volvo’s Peter Horbury as its design chief.

     

  • Reports: Volvo hands over XC90 platform to owner Geely

    In Cars, China, Geely, Volvo / By / / 11 comments

    Reports from China say that Volvo has handed over the XC90 platform to its Chinese owner, Geely. National Business Daily says that Geely will use the SUV platform to develop a vehicle that will sit in a new high-end sub-brand for the Chinese market. The hand over agreement was signed in March.

    Makes good sense, since Volvo is already working on the next generation XC90 that will hit the market in 2014. And although the XC90 is far from a fresh face on the road (it has been around since 2003), Geely will be inheriting safe, sturdy and proven underpinnings that meet current standards. The P2 platform on which the XC90 is based on also underpins cars like the S80 and Ford Taurus.

    Geely launched its first ever SUV at the recent Beijing show. Called the GLEagle GX7, the seven-seater is powered by a 4G18 1.8 litre and a 4G20 2.0 litre engine. Click here to view a live gallery from the show.

     

  • Geely GX7 SUV – the GLEagle has landed

    In Cars, China, Geely, International News / By / / 17 comments

    Since we’re back on a bit of a roll, here’s another one from Beijing. Geely’s GLEagle GX7 is the first SUV from the company which owns Volvo, and the seven-seater has just made its market debut in China.

    Shape-wise, you’ll again probably see that reinterpreted from elsewhere, but the lines look clean enough on the 4,540 mm long, 1,835 mm wide and 1,700 mm tall vehicle, which has a 2,661 mm wheelbase.

    The GX7 is available in two petrol engine guise forms, these being a 4G18 1.8 litre and a 4G20 2.0 litre. Reports mention that a 2.4 litre unit is to join the lineup sometime this year. At the show, what looked like a diesel mill called the 4D20 was also mentioned, but no idea if that’s currently on the cards.

    Transmission options are a five-speed manual and six-speed auto, but there’s also mention of a 7DCT unit in that mix (though the diesel does only with manual and auto). Elsewhere, items on the kit list include ESC, seven airbags, a GSG Geely Intelligent Stop-go system, 17-inch wheels and 225/65 series rubbers.

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  • Changan Raeton – midsize sedan goes the posh route

    In Cars, ChangAn, China, International News / By / / 67 comments

    More from the sifted pile of Beijing pix. The name sounds like a play on the name of the son of the Greek god Helios, which of course adorns a certain German luxury sedan. But Changan’s Raeton 1.8T is very much its own car, and is very much a move into the upmarket side of things for the Chinese automaker, by the looks of it.

    The 4.90 metre-long vehicle – the biggest model to bear the Changan name – is equipped with a 1.8 litre turbocharged engine, with output figures being 174 hp at 5,000 to 5,500 rpm and 240 Nm from 1,850 to 4,800 rpm.

    The mill is mated to a six-speed auto box, and performance specs include a 210 km/h top speed and an 8.4 litre per 100 km fuel consumption. Other numbers include a 2,810 mm long wheelbase, and the car comes with ESP, with ABS, EBD and EBA in the list. No photos of the mid-sized offering’s interior, sorry about that – it was one of those many ‘snap and run’ moments.

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  • Youngman Lotus L3 sedan given a minor facelift

    In Cars, China, International News, Youngman / By / / 25 comments

    Found this while sifting through the plethora of photos taken at Auto China, and it’s of the Youngman Lotus L3 sedan, which might be of interest to Proton anoraks. The Persona form there has been given a very, very minor facelift, as the GT variant shows.

    Pretty sedate outing this, boring even if you compare it to the L3 GT seen at Auto Guangzhou in 2010, which looked like an Ah Beng’s dream come true. External changes are minimal, and these are made up of a new grille, front bumper and new taillamps, and the GT wears a different wheel design to the standard L3 (the one with the lady friend standing next to it and via side profile).

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  • China’s SAIC eyes Thailand as RHD production hub

    In Cars, China, MG, SAIC / By / / 16 comments

    Chinese auto giant SAIC Motor is looking to set up shop in Thailand, eyeing our northern neighbour as a right-hand drive production hub for export to RHD countries in ASEAN and beyond. SAIC is working with Thailand’s CP Group on this, Bangkok Post reported.

    According to CP vice-chairman Thanakorn Seriburi, both parties will complete feasibility studies for the project by the fourth quarter this year.

    “The study will include the cost of investment for making at least 50,000 passenger cars a year. The entry of the company would mean not only Chinese investment in the assembly plant, but also in auto parts,” Seriburi added.

    SAIC, for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, may be a faceless name to many, but the company is China’s number one automaker, with a mammoth 3.64 million vehicles made last year.

    It is the owner of the classic British MG brand, and makes premium cars under its own brand Roewe. SAIC is also the local partner for Volkswagen and GM, the top two foreign automakers in China.

    The grey hatch above is the MG5 and the orange notchback is the MG6. Click here to see a gallery of the supermini sized MG3 and here to view MG’s latest concept for the Beijing show. The “new MG” could be coming, anyone interested?

     

  • SPIED: Changan Alsvin sedan spotted in Johor

    In Cars, ChangAn, China, Local News, Spyshots / By / / 84 comments

    Another Chinese sedan looks to be ready to enter the local market – reader Caddilac Wong spotted an example of the Chana Alsvin in Johor, and has kindly sent us photos of the parked trade-plated vehicle.

    The Alsvin is equipped with a JL475QD 1.5 litre DOHC mill, good for 97 hp at 5,500 rpm and 137 Nm of torque at 3,500 to 4,500 rpm, and transmission options for the car are a five-speed manual or, in the case of the vehicle in the photos, a four-speed auto.

    The example in the photos is a 1.5 AT Luxury variant, as determined by its fabric seats. Kit on the 4.36 metre-long offering should include two airbags, ABS and EBD as well as cruise control, based on the equipment list found on the domestic version.

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  • Auto China 2012: the ladies of Beijing share the spotlight

    In Cars, China, International News / By / / 52 comments

    As far as numbers go, the 2012 Beijing International Automobile Exhibition had plenty to go by – 230,000 sq metres of exhibition area at the China International Exhibition Center and a total of 1,125 vehicles on display being primary figures. The number of displays even bettered that in Frankfurt last year (1,012 displays), a rather significant point in one-upmanship.

    Of course, the enormity of it all also means one thing – plenty of accompanying ladies. The sheer scope of the displays was such that there were eye-catching sights – metal or otherwise – every which way you turned.

    Items like the Youngman Lotus T5, Honda Concept S and Concept C as well as the Toyota Dear Qin may have been of definite interest, but by and large the cars had to fight the ladies for attention from the pixmen.

    So, here they are, the ladies of Auto China 2012 – see any faves in there? My camera never had to work as hard, ever, so enjoy!

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  • Dongfeng-Honda Ciimo – an 8th-gen Civic for China

    In Cars, Dongfeng, Honda, International News / By / / 56 comments

    Dongfeng-Honda has introduced the Ciimo sedan specifically for the Chinese market – if the shape in the photos look familiar, it is; the Ciimo is pretty much the eight-generation Civic, repackaged for China.

    The car – which made its debut in Beijing – is available in only one engine variant form, this being the 1.8 litre i-VTEC, mated to either a five-speed manual or five-speed auto transmission. Kit includes ABS with EBD and active headrests.

    Pricing for the Ciimo begins from 111,800 Yuan, and word is that the Ciimo name won’t just be worn on this one, but rather on a series of models as it becomes a sub-brand. Reports indicate that a SUV based on the CR-V is next on the cards.

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