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Saab ends investment deal with Youngman, Pang Da

October 25, 2011 at 12:49 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Saab, Youngman

Swedish Automobile, the company which owns troubled automaker Saab, has said it has ended a 245 million euro investment deal with Chinese companies Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile and Pang Da Automobile, following their offer to buy Saab instead of committing to the original deal to invest in its parent company. according to reports.

Youngman and Pang Da had in July signed a non-binding MoU to take a combined 53.9% stake in Swedish Automobile, but now say circumstances have changed, and they want to purchase shares in Saab.

Swedish Automobile’s CEO Victor Muller said last week that the offer was unacceptable, stating that it would trigger every conceivable change of control clause and that would possibly mean the end of Saab, the reports added. He did not disclose the value of the offer.

The termination of the agreements came after Pang Da and Youngman failed to confirm their commitment to the equity investments and to a second deal over bridge funding, though Swedish Automobile added that discussions between the parties were still ongoing.

Swedish Automobile had at the end of September agreed to sell its Spyker Cars operation to American private equity firm North Street Capital, for US$44 million. North Street’s managing partner Alex Mascioli said last Friday that North Street had the capacity to take over Saab should it wish to do, adding that the brand was an undervalued asset that would survive. “I’m willing to do what I can with my resources for Saab,” he was quoted as saying.

By the looks of it, SA’s future remains well in the air at the moment. The company has been struggling for months in its bid to pay suppliers and employees and resume production at Trollhattan.

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Chery hits export targets early, Brazil is biggest market

October 18, 2011 at 1:15 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chery, China, International News


Other than Proton, who else uses ‘FL’ to mark a facelift? This is the Chery Tiggo FL!

There are so many car brands in China that only a visit to a Chinese motor show will open one’s eyes. But apart from a handful, most of these brands are unknown outside the country, or province. One of the better known ones is Chery, which is also China’s largest passenger vehicle exporter.

Chery seems to have the vision its peers don’t. The Anhui based state owned company exported 122,441 vehicles in the first nine months of 2011, up 80% year-on-year. This surge of exports has allowed the company to achieve its original 2011 target of 122,000 units three months ahead of schedule. For the whole year, Chery expects to ship 180,000 vehicles overseas.

Who’s buying their cars? Exports to emerging markets have been especially strong. Fellow BRIC country Brazil is Chery’s largest export market, followed by Russia and Ukraine. Chery plans to export to Europe after 2015.

They won’t go it alone. According to a German report from last month, Chery Quantum Auto, a 1.5 billion euro joint venture between Chery and Israel Corp, will build three compact models to be sold in China and exported to Europe, reaching the continent next year. The cars, developed by Magna Steyr, will be built at a new factory near Shanghai with an initial capacity of 150,000 units per year, rising eventually to 500k units.

The cars, designed to meet Western standards and expected to cost around RM46,700 to RM63,500, will be sold under a new brand called Qoros. Read our post on that here.

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China NCAP to be upgraded, 64 km/h front impact speed

October 12, 2011 at 10:28 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China

The China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) will be made more stringent, according to a report by Asia Pulse website. The new standards for C-NCAP, which awards new vehicles one to five stars, will take effect on July 2012.

The new standards by China’s Automotive Technology and Research Center are offset frontal crash tests at speeds of 64 km/h (40 mph), an upgrade from the current 56 km/h (35 mph). By the way, 40 mph is the same frontal impact speed used by Euro NCAP, so the didn’t make their own rules. The center is also adding an optional test for whiplash.

This is a good move on the part of the Chinese authorities, more so when only half a dozen of homegrown products have scored five stars under the current standards. The new standards will be like throwing them into the deep end of the pool, an effective way to teach and learn. Models developed by international automakers generally have less trouble scoring full stars.

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Chery and Magna Steyr join forces to penetrate Europe

September 27, 2011 at 11:16 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chery, China


If you can’t do it on your own, why not get some help? Chinese carmaker Chery is planning to enter Europe with the help of Magna Steyr, which is based in Austria and builds cars such as the MINI Countryman, Peugeot RCZ and Aston Martin Rapide. They were also contract manufacturers for the first gen BMW X3 and the folding roof of the Mercedes SLK.

According to FT Deutschland, Chery Quantum Auto, a 1.5 billion euro joint venture between Chery and Israel Corp will build three compact models to be sold in China and exported to Europe, reaching the continent next year. The cars, developed by Magna Steyr, will be built at a new factory in Changshu (near Shanghai) with an initial capacity of 150,000 units per year, rising eventually to 500,000 units.

Instead of using Chery’s badge, the cars will be sold under a new brand called Qoros. The cars are designed to meet Western standards and are expected to cost around RM46.700 to RM63,500, the report adds.

On its website, Tel Aviv listed Israel Corp says Chery Quantum was created to manufacture and market a new brand of premium Western-standard vehicles. “The vehicles will meet high safety and environmental standards by combining Chery’s manufacturing capabilities with Western design, engineering and safety standards.”

The JV is also looking at alternative powertrains. Israel Corp, the country’s biggest industrial conglomerate, already owns a 30% stake in Better Place, an electric mobility firm that specialises in battery exchange centres.

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Chinese brand Hawtai to partner Proton after Saab failure?

August 17, 2011 at 12:08 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

When Youngman recently bought a stake in troubled Swedish brand Saab, we raised the question on the former’s relationship with Proton. Youngman has been Proton’s partner for quite some time now – Proton provides models for Youngman to rebadge as ‘Lotus’ in China – but does it need the Malaysian anymore, now that it has Saab?

Chinese carmakers are all looking to expand, and acquiring foreign brands is a short cut of sorts to absorb better design, quality and QC. Before the Youngman-Saab deal, another Chinese carmaker was in the picture. Beijing based Hawtai threw in US$172 million for a 29.9% stake in Saab back in May, only for the deal to fall through as they did not obtain all the necessary consents.

This swingers club story has now been updated with reports from China saying that Hawtai will work with Proton, which is no longer the apple of Youngman’s eyes, remember?

According to “inside sources” the two companies (Hawtai and Proton) may be pairing up to take on the Indonesian market and have had “multiple high level meetings” at Hawtai’s HQ in downtown Beijing. While no one knows what’s going on in the boardroom, Hawtai bosses did let slip in a media interview last month that they were in contact with an overseas company regarding a possible joint venture.


Logo of China’s Hawtai Motor, not to be confused with the Malaysian biscuit maker

“In one respect, Proton has to improve its development in the Chinese market, and Hawtai are planning to enter the Indonesian market to expand overseas sales,” China Car Times quoted a source as saying.

There’s bound to be more flirting and proposals to come, and we’ll keep track of the goss (damn, I feel like Perez Hilton now!). Anyway, we dropped by Hawtai’s stand at Guangzhou 2010, click here to see what they had on display. To see, the fruits of Proton’s union with Youngman, click here.

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BYD sales decline by 20%, sales boss resigns as a result

August 9, 2011 at 10:19 am By Danny Tan Filed Under BYD, Cars, China

Not every sales stories from China is a rosy one. Private Chinese automaker BYD, which is partly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is seeing sales slump. After it almost doubled in 2009, BYD sales rose by just 17% in 2010, way behind the 32% industry average. For the first half of 2011, sales have dropped 20% year-on-year to 242,419 units, according to JD Power.

In the midst of this, sales Vice President Xia Zhibing has resigned. Xia’s departure is officially listed as for “personal reasons” in the company statement, but industry observers and analysts believe the real cause behind his resignation is the company’s sharp sales decline this year. Xia, 37, has been the sales chief since 2005.

Analysts point out that the government’s scrapping of tax incentives for small cars has resulted in a drop in demand for models from mass-market brands this year. However, BYD sales are falling faster than the industry at large. Also blamed is BYD’s aggressive dealership network expansion over the past two years. It backfired in 2010 when more than 20% of its dealerships closed, according to local media.

Or could it be BYD’s model lineup itself? The company has plenty of models that are “inspired” by other marques – Estima, Honda City, Merc SL, Megane CC, Altis, Optra 5, you name it. Could it be that the average Chinese is no longer digging “imitation” products when it comes to cars?

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Jianghuai Automobile to build assembly plant in Brazil

August 5, 2011 at 12:36 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, China, International News

Some news about Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co, or JAC. The Chinese automaker is looking at expanding its presence in Brazil by building a production plant there, reports say. The Hefei-based company, which made more than 450,000 cars domestically and was placed eight last year in terms of output for Chinese auto manufacturers, is already present in Brazil.

It began sales in the country in March this year, and by June had sold more than 20,000 units of its J5 sedan in Brazil. The J6 MPV is due to be introduced into the Brazilain market this month. The new plant is slated to begin production in 2014 and will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles.

JAC isn’t the only Chinese automaker with grand plans for Brazil – Chery has begun work on its own assembly plant there, and earlier this year, Chonqing Lifan Industry Group stated plans to build a JV assembly plant with Brazilian auto dealer EFFA Motors, the reports add.

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Fiat CEO Marchionne warns against underestimating China

August 5, 2011 at 10:52 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Chery, China, Fiat

In many automotive circles, whether at the mamak or in boardrooms, China is still the butt of jokes. However, underestimating Chinese carmakers may not be that wise, if one remembers that Japanese and Korean cars were once in the same position. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is warning against that.

“If anyone deludes themselves that they can ignore China, they will pay a huge price. China’s auto industry has grown tremendously, and they have some of the most updated current technology. They should not be underestimated. We cannot afford to be unprepared for the ascent of China, reassuring ourselves of our invincibility,” Marchionne told an auto industry seminar in Michigan.

“The excuse that we did not understand or that we underestimated the scale will serve no purpose. Rather we need to continue to work to make our industrial base more competitive, because the day of reckoning is inevitably coming.”

The Italian pointed out that at present, Chinese carmakers produce almost entirely for domestic consumption, but “even assuming China were to export only 10% of what it produces, the risk we face in our home markets is enormous.”

He has reason to worry. Fiat is fighting for market leadership in fast growing Brazil, the world’s fourth largest car market and a target for the Chinese. Chery has started construction of its first factory outside of Sao Paulo and expects to churn out 50,000 vehicles a year there by end 2013. Meanwhile, Jianghuai Automobile (JAC Motors) is to invest between $600 and $900-million for its maiden Brazilian assembly plant that will start operating in 2014.

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Great Wall Motor lining up Shanghai IPO to raise funds

August 2, 2011 at 2:03 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Great Wall

Great Wall Motor Co, China’s biggest maker of pick-up trucks, is lining up an initial offering in Shanghai to fund its product development plans. The SSE offering seeks to sell as much as 10% of the company, which unlike many Chinese automakers, is privately owned.

Based in Baoding in China’s Hebei province, the Hong Kong-listed company plans to issue as many as 304 million shares, according to a prospectus posted on the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s website. This is actually GWM’s second try, after regulators rejected its request for a Shanghai listing in 2008, with no reason given. The commission will review the new application tomorrow (Aug 3).

Great Wall, the latest entrant into the Malaysian market with the Haval SUV and Wingle pick-up truck, recently formed partnerships with big companies to up the level of tech in its products. The parties include Autoliv Inc, Valeo S.A and Shanghai Brose Automotive Components Co.

Last year, Great Wall sold a total of 390,000 units, registering a year-on-year increase of 70%. Of this total, 150,000 units were the Haval, while the Wingle contributed 100k to the cause. The group also saw a turnover of 29 billion yuan, or USD 4.5 billion, in 2010.

Click here to read our launch post of the Great Wall Haval and Wingle.

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Great Wall Motor comes to Malaysia – Haval diesel SUV at RM120k, Wingle pick-up truck starts from RM59,888!

July 30, 2011 at 4:34 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Great Wall, Local News


UPDATE: Mega hi-res gallery added after the jump

There’s a new auto brand in town, and it’s the Great Wall from China. Brought in by franchise holder Green Oranges Sdn Bhd, the brand, which is privately owned and named after China’s famous world wonder, will be introduced to Malaysians via two models – the Haval H5 SUV and the Wingle pick-up truck.

The two are the brand’s most traveled models, and are sold in Europe and Australia, among other markets. What this means is that they would have passed the higher safety and emissions standards that these markets require.

Let’s start with the Haval H5. It’s a five-seater mid sized SUV that’s much larger than the other Chinese SUV in our market, the Chery Tiggo. With a length of 4,649 mm and wheelbase of 2,700 mm, the Haval is 84 mm longer than a Honda CR-V, and almost all that length advantage (80 mm) is in the wheelbase.

And at 1,735 mm, the Haval also stands taller than the current crop of SUVs except for the similarly boxy Nissan X-Trail.

But we reckon that the Haval’s main selling point isn’t size, but its diesel engine, as the only other SUVs offering oil burners are the Hyundai Santa Fe and Chevy Captiva, both priced much higher.

This 2.0 TCI engine is a modern common rail unit (CRDI system by Bosch) with Variable Geometry Turbo (VGT, by Borg Warner), and it produces 148 hp and 310 Nm of torque from 1,800 to 2,800 rpm. Mated to a 5-speed automatic with Shiftronic, fuel consumption is rated at 6.8L per 100 km.

The Haval is a part time 4WD machine, and changing modes from 2WD (rear driven) to AWD can be done on the fly at speeds of up to 70 km/h. The standard kit list includes dual airbags, ABS, EBD, Traction Control, leather seats (with electric adjustment for driver), reverse camera, cruise control, auto air con and a full colour touch screen factory head unit with DVD/USB/Bluetooth compatibility.

One unique feature not found elsewhere is a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that’s displayed at the rear view mirror.

The other model is the Wingle double cab pick-up truck. This is the latest version of the Wingle, and it features a smart looking VW style nose in place of the cartoonish face that some might remember testing on our roads some time back.

Its Isuzu roots are obvious from the dash, but the Wingle has steering audio controls and adjustable height headlamps, among other standard kit. Dual airbags, ABS and EBD are also in the list, as are leather seats.

The Wingle is powered by a 2.5-litre commonrail diesel engine with 107 hp and 300 Nm of torque, the latter produced from 1,800 to 2,400 rpm. The Mitsubishi derived turbo unit isn’t the VGT type, but the standard type. No auto option for the Wingle; the engine is exclusively paired to a five-speed manual ‘box. You can however, choose from 4X2 or 4X4 variants. Shift on the fly is available on the latter.

Both Great Wall models will be locally assembled at Green Oranges’ own plant in Gurun, Kedah, but the few early units are brought in from China, which is a common arrangement. Green Oranges CEO Mohd Azli SM Nasimuddin said that CKD production will start in mid August, and assured that parts will not be a problem – the company already has RM2 million worth of parts kept in Segambut, and all 12 dealerships nationwide are 3S centres.

If all goes well, Malaysia will be the right-hand drive production hub for these two Great Wall models. Green Oranges is already stepping into the Cambodian market as we type, and today signed an MoU to collaborate with a Cambodian GLC.

The Haval SUV is priced at RM120,000 OTR while the Wingle is priced at RM59,888 for the 4X2 and RM69,888 for the 4X4. The SUV comes with 5 years warranty (or 150k km), 5 years free maintenance and 5 years auto assist, while the Wingle comes with a 3-year warranty.

If you want to check the cars out in the metal, head on to the new wing of Sunway Pyramid, where Green Oranges have set up an outdoor display area.

Huge hi-res gallery and exclusive driving impressions are after the jump!
[Read more...]

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