Archive for China

Nanjing Automobile, who owns the MG brand now, will be purchasing diesel engines from an European engine supplier to slot into its’ MG 7 for the European market. What Nanjing has right now is a BMW diesel that makes 113hp, and that would definitely not work in a modern European market.

Nanjing director Paul Stowe says the new engine for the MG 7 will be purchased from a manufacturer that already supplies engines to other companies, though he declined to name which one. We will have to look at an European manufacturer that has an engine plant in China, where the MG 7 is currently being built. Automotive News reports that the supplier might be Fiat or VM Motori.

VM Motori is a turbodiesel specialist of sorts, and it’s turbodiesels have found it’s way into many vehicles, including Cadillacs, and even the recently launched Weststar series of rebadged LDV Maxus vans use VM Motori turbodiesels.

Source

Chery S12 to enter South American market

After a short pause because of the recent change in ownership over at Chrysler, the talks between Chery and Chrysler on their small car collaboration has resumed.

Two cars are being discussed - one is a Chery model that will be badged as a Chrysler in the US market. CKD kits of the Chery S12 will be shipped to Mexico and South America, and the kit will be assembled there for sale in those markets. The Southern American states share similar fate to South East Asia, we always get the boring stuff.

For other markets where something more premium is needed, Chrysler and Chery intends to produce a production version of the Dodge Hornet concept car in China, both engineered and manufactured at Chery’s research center and plant in Wuhu, Anhui.

Production could begin in 2010.

Source

The Geely CK1, who used to sport a W203 Mercedes Benz C-Class front end but has been recently revised has just made it’s debut in Indonesia last week. It is sold by PT Gaya Motor, an associate of Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd owned by Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong.

The car, available in 1.3 liter and 1.5 liter form, will be assembled in Indonesia, and 2,000 units is expected to be sold over the next 12 months. PT Gaya Motor has an agreement with Geely Holding Group for the manufacturing, assembly and international marketing of Geely vehicles in Indonesia. PT Gaya Motor will initially assemble CKD packs of the car in Indonesia, but later will start using more local components as volume picks up.

Geely originally wanted to establish a manufacturing base in Malaysia with an investment of RM100 million together with it’s partner Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd, but decided to pull out and choose Indonesia instead because of the discouraging National Automotive Policy.

You can read more about the history of how the NAP chased away a potential investor in the related posts below:

Related Posts:
Geely moves assembly plant plans to Indonesia
IGC to start Geely assembly in October 2006
Geely investment plans on hold again
Geely Freedom Cruiser to be assembled in Malaysia

Chery wants to re-examine it’s deal with Chrysler to develop Chrysler-branded small cars for numerous markets, said Zhang Li, Chery Automobile Co Ltd’s general manager. The project has been halted for the moment and awaits renegotiation of the agreement.

This is because Chrysler has recently changed hands, now belonging to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP thanks to last week’s US$7.45 billion deal. Chrysler spokesperson Mary Gauthier said Chrysler’s global growth plans remains the same, and the new owners Cerberus has not changed any of those goals.

I suppose Chery just wants to play it safe and make sure Cerberus is fully aware of all details of the plan.

Related Posts:
Chrysler goes to Cerberus for US7.45 billion
Chrysler and Chery sign small car letter of intent

The Chery A6CC Concept is a sports coupe designed by Bertone, and is supposed to feature an ACTECO 3.0 liter V6 engine under the hood. The other engine variant would be a turbocharged 2.0 liter, and both will have variable valve timing. Seems to be following Audi’s strategy with performance engine offerings there - a normally aspirated big displacement V6 and a smaller turbo inline-4.

I do hope they actually plan to put brake calipers on those huge brake rotors in the production version, otherwise I would think it would be very hard to get the car to stop. Kind of silly to build a concept model and have the fake brake rotors but miss out on the fake brake calipers.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Chery A6CC Concept

Roewe is basically what Rover has become after SAIC took over, and the models currently on sale are basically rehashed versions of the 75 and TF, but this might indicate Roewe’s new design direction. This is the Roewe W2 concept, which looks decent enough on the outside but features a cool LED touch screen control module on the inside, as well as a funky meter panel.

It is the result of a collaboration between SAIC’s own team and ex-Rover and ex-MG designers. The Roewe W2 is slated to be Roewe’s new C-segment mid-range car and will join Roewe’s line-up in 2008.

Click here to read the rest of Roewe W2 Concept

Just like the Chery QQ’s evolution is theChery QQ6, Chery has redone their Chery Tiggo and updated it as the Chery Tiggo6. It looks more modern than the Chery Tiggo that has just reached our shores this month, and doesn’t look so much like a cross between a CR-V and a RAV4 anymore.

The Chery Tiggo6 has permanent all-wheel drive instead of a 2WD system or a 2WD-4WD-low ratio switchable system, and features Chery’s range of AVL-designed ACTECO engines including a Euro 5-compliant 1.9 liter turbodiesel. This means specs-wise, the Chery Tiggo6 is ready to take on Europe, pretty good for a company that not too long ago was just doing clones of Daewoo vehicles.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Chery Tiggo6

This is the First Automobile Works Haima H12 EV, an electric vehicle that looks suspiciously like the Mazda3 Sedan. It was shown at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show, but no specs can be found anywhere on the net, typical of Chinese manufacturers. The Haima H12 is supposedly built on an older generation Mazda 323 platform, which should probably explain it’s resemblance to the current generation Mazda 3.

For a 1.6 liter Chinese-made sedan to keep up with a Ferrari F430 on the track could only mean there is some huge difference between driving ability of the two drivers biased to the driver of the Chery, but let’s just have a look at this video anyway.

Click here to read the rest of Chery Windcloud vs Ferrari F430

The Chery T11 Tiggo is now available in Malaysia for a sum of RM80,292. While it looks much like a combination of the second generation Toyota RAV4 rear and the 2nd gen Honda CR-V and Naza Sorento’s front, the chassis is not carried from either vehicles.

Chery’s local distributor Alado says the T11 Tiggo sold here is powered by a Mitsubishi-based engine, but I did some research online and was confused by what I found. The Chery T11 Tiggo is available in other markets with two 2.0 liter engine options - one is a 1,997cc Mitsubishi 4G63 engine making 123 horsepower and 170Nm of torque. The other is powered by a Chery-designed ACTECO engine codenamed SQR484F which was developed by Austrian firm AVL. [Source] This engine family has also been commissioned by other automakers like Fiat, which will use the 1.6 liter and 1.8 liter ACTECO engines in it’s China-produced cars.

The Chery ACTECO SQR484F is a 1,971cc DOHC engine with a 10.2:1 compression ratio and produces 129 horsepower at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, which matches the specs Alado quoted for our local Tiggo. [Source] In the Chery T11 Tiggo’s application, the engine is only available with a 5-speed manual at the moment.

Some basic specs - 5 seats, 2WD drivetrain, 3-spoke steering wheel, dual SRS airbags, CD player, heated front seats, antilock brakes, electronic brake distribution, and power steering. The rear hatch is of the side-hinged design, which Honda recently abandoned with the new 3rd generation Honda CR-V.

At RM80k, the Chery T11 Tiggo is a reasonably attractive SUV that manages to keep the price down with equipment levels that are only the necessities - not many people require 4WD. I’m not quite sure at this point whether the Tiggo is a CBU import or locally assembled. There was previously talk about having the Tiggo assembled at either Oriental Assemblers in Johor or at one of Proton’s plants - but I am not sure if this has happened or not.

Related Posts:
Fiat to use Chery’s AVL-designed ACTECO engines
Chery Tiggo coming to Malaysia
Chery recalls Chery T11 Tiggo SUVs
Chery V5 Crossover MPV
Proton to produce MPV and SUV with Chery

Click here to read the rest of Chery T11 Tiggo for RM80,292