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Auto Guangzhou: New MG3 is neatly styled inside and out

December 27, 2010 at 11:16 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Nanjing MG

Here’s another debutant at the ongoing Auto Guangzhou 2010, the MG3. Although the MG brand is now in Chinese hands, they are keen to promote the British links and heritage of the marque, which was obvious from the constant presence of Union Jacks around the stand. SAIC even brought in classic MGs for the show.

The MG3 is a B-segment supermini that’s rather neatly styled and proportioned. At 3,999 mm long, 1,728 mm wide and 1,517 mm tall, it’s about the size of a Ford Fiesta, but slightly larger in all directions. The 2,520 mm wheelbase is also very long for its class. The black roof isn’t very original but there are some neat details such as headlamp bulbs with MG logos, like the Mk4 VW Polo. The long rear lamps are a bit like the Volvo XC60′s.

The interior is quite pleasant as well. While plastics are hard, the dash design is cool in a minimalist way, and there are some iPod influences in the white trim and stereo controls. If you’re wondering what’s in the dash top cubby, it’s a mount for a portable GPS unit. The two-tone black-beige theme also works for me, and it’s quite spacious at the back, too.

There’s not much info on what’s underneath, save for the option of a 92 hp 1.3L engine and a 108 hp 1.5L unit. The show car has an AMT gearbox. The MG3 will be launched locally in March 2011.

Full live gallery after the jump.
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Auto Guangzhou: FAW Senya S80 SUV is a “CrossAvanza”

December 27, 2010 at 9:16 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Toyota

This is the Senya S80 by Chinese auto maker First Automobile Works. FAW is one of the biggest auto companies in China, having joint ventures with the likes of Volkswagen, General Motors and Toyota. Subsidiary FAW-Jilin was a JV with Daihatsu, which recently pulled out of the marriage. FAW not only retained the factory, but the Daihatsu Xenia as well, which we know as the Toyota Avanza.

Marketed as an SUV, not an MPV, the Senya S80 wears 4X4 style black cladding on the lower half of its body, along with sliver “stone guards” at both ends. The grille, headlamps (projector units with LED signals) and taillamps are also different from the Avanza. The resulting look could be pretty much like how a “Cross Avanza” would look like if there’s ever such a thing. Could be an inspiration for Avanza owners who want to try out the “4X4 look”.

Inside, there’s leather on the seats and steering with red stitching plus a 2-DIN touch screen head unit. The S80 can be had with the same 92 PS K3-VE 1.3L and 109 PS 3SZ-VE 1.5L engines as per the Avanza.

More live images after the jump.
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Great Wall Motors ASEAN CKD plans include Malaysia?

December 24, 2010 at 11:51 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Great Wall


Great Wall Coolbear

Various sources on the internet point to Great Wall Motor Co having an assembly plant here in Malaysia. It seems that Malaysia has been identified as one of the countries where the Chinese carmaker wants to set up a plant, together with Vietnam and Philippines.


Great Wall Wingle

These three countries will make passenger cars, while separate Great Wall Motor Co plants in Indonesia and Thailand will make pick-up up trucks such as the Great Wall Wingle. Given that they want plants in so many countries, they’ll most likely be in partnership with local partners.


Great Wall Hover

Earlier this year we heard news of the government receiving applications from five foreign carmakers to setup assembly plants here in Malaysia. The government did not reveal which companies these were, only saying that they were European and Asian companies, which is really quite general.


Great Wall Voleex C30

Great Wall could most likely be one of the 5 companies, and MITI had better give the green light fast because although we’ve seen Great Wall cars on test in Malaysia before, the Chinese company is already selling cars in the Philippines and has already identified that it will work with local dealer Philippine National Motor to setup a plant there with an annual capacity of 10,000 units. Great Wall also already has CKD plants in Vietnam in partnership with the locals.


Great Wall Cowry

Models that Great Wall Motor seem to be focusing on exporting are the Florid, the Peri, the Wingle, the Cowry, the Coolbear and the Hover SUV. They also have the Voleex C30 and Voleex C70 sedans. The Hover SUV was recently granted a 4 star score in the Australian NCAP crash test. The only model that we’ve seen on test in Malaysia before is the Wingle.


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Auto Guangzhou: Hyundai Verna hatch is for China only

December 24, 2010 at 12:46 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Hyundai, International News, Koreans

The new Hyundai Verna (Accent to us) made its world debut at the Beijing show back in April, and now it’s Guangzhou’s turn to host the premiere of the hatchback version of the Verna. Hyundai says that this five-door hatch is exclusively for the Chinese market, although we don’t see why shouldn’t they sell it elsewhere too.

To go on sale in January, this Beijing built Verna is powered by 1.4 and 1.6-litre Gamma CVVT engines. The 1.4 delivers 108 PS and 135 Nm while the bigger unit produces 124 PS and 155 Nm. Chinese customers get to choose from a five-speed manual or four-speed auto. There’s a “fuel economy package” for the base engine that extends fuel economy to 16.1 km/l. This package includes a tweaked CVVT system, smart alternator/air con compressor plus motor-driven power steering.

Looking a lot like a smaller and sportier i30, the Verna hatch is shorter than the sedan by 255 mm at 4,085 mm. The wheelbase of 2,570 mm is of course unchanged, and is shorter than the C-segment i30 by 80 mm. As a recap, click here for a gallery of the sedan – notice that the hatch’s grille does without the chrome strip on the top and has a single bar, not two. The dashboard is unchanged.

Live gallery from Guangzhou and official pics after the jump. Like what you see?
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GALLERY: New Li Nian Everus S1 is the old Honda City

December 23, 2010 at 12:55 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Honda, International News

Guanggi Honda, Honda’s Chinese JV company, launched own brand Li Nian’s first car at Auto Guangzhou 2010. Li Nian is meant to be a China-only brand and its “English name” is Everus. This debut model is called S1 and it’s based on the previous generation Honda City.

We previously posted up official images of the S1′s front and side, without the rear. With this live gallery from Guangzhou we can confirm that there are no big changes to the City’s original rear design. The light cluster shape and design plus a chrome strip are among the differences. The fresh front end looks a bit like the current “Optimus Prime” City to my eyes, especially from the side.

The S1 will go on sale in the first quarter of 2011 with 1.3 and 1.5-litre engines. Gallery after the jump.
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Li Nian S1 is a rehashed last generation Honda City

December 21, 2010 at 9:04 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Honda, International News

Honda’s Chinese domestic market sub-brand Li Nian has just launched its first car – the Li Nian S1, a production version of the Li Nian Everus Concept car shown earlier this year at the Beijing auto show. As expected, the S1 ended up being a rehash of the previous generation Honda City, as we could already see the old City’s design cues on the Everus Concept.

Li Nian is a JV between Honda and their Chinese partner Guangqi Honda Automobile. The Li Nian brand was first announced in 2008, and there has been some very interesting concept cars shown at motorshows under the Li Nian name such as the Li Nian Concept and the Li Nian Roadster concept. It’s just too bad that the first production Li Nian ended up being a recycled last generation Honda.
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New Buick GL8 breaks cover, China sales start next month

December 6, 2010 at 3:07 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Buick, Cars, China, International News

After over 330,000 units sold in China, General Motors has unveiled the successor to the successful Buick GL8 MPV. Based on the Buick Business Concept shown at the 2009 Shanghai Motor Show, the new GL8 was developed by Shanghai GM in cooperation with the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC, located just outside of Shanghai) with Chinese users in mind.

Improved from the aging original in every aspect, the new GL8 offers an “unprecedented luxury MPV experience that is unmistakably Buick”. If you’re wondering why Buick, stepping foot in any big Chinese city will answer your question. New money Chinese consumers have their automotive tastes skewed more towards America, which means that luxury and size goes hand in hand. So does chrome and Buick!

With length and width of 5,256 mm and 1,878 mm, the GL8 has a bigger footprint than a Toyota Alphard. The long 3,088 mm wheelbase is also 138 mm longer than the Japanese MPV, promising a large interior with three rows of seven seats. The 360-degree wraparound cabin inspired by luxury yachts combines Eastern and Western aesthetics and features ice-blue atmosphere lighting.

A two-piece sunroof, electric anti-pinch sliding doors, powered hatch, 10-speaker, 5.1-channel Bose stereo, 7-inch touch screen up front and 10.2-inch WVGA HD display at the back, OnStar and bi-xenons are the other luxuries that businessmen will love. The GL8 is powered by a 255 hp 3.0L SIDI direct injection V6 or a 2.4L Ecotec.

The GL8 is priced from RMB 288,000 and RMB 388,000 (RM136k-RM183k) in China. The current car will continue to be sold, now powered by a 2.4L Ecotec/6-speed auto and positioned below the new model.

Big gallery after the jump.
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All-new Buick GL8 MPV launching this month in China

November 12, 2010 at 12:46 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Buick, Cars, China, General Motors

Buick is big in China, which tastes in automobiles lean more towards America than Europe or Japan (huge saloons are in, tiny city cars aren’t, for instance) . If you’ve stepped foot in Shanghai or Beijing, you’d surely have noticed this Naza Ria/Kia Carnival style big, square MPV. That’s the GL8, and it’s popular as a luxury people carrier for business people. While it sells well, the GL8 is terribly dated, and out of sync with other premium offerings the Chinese are lapping up.

Well, the time has come and Shanghai GM has announced that it will launch the new Buick GL8 on November 28. Targeted to business users, the offers “improvements in design, power, control and technology” and will “create a new era for locally made executive wagons.” Engines options include a 2.4L Ecotec or a 3.0 V6 SIDI direct injection engine. The transmission is a six-speed automatic with Tiptronic buttons on the gear lever – an unusual layout. OnStar and Buick’s Quiet Tuning system will also be standard.

From the teaser images, we can see that the production GL8 follows closely the template set by the Buick Business Concept shown at the 2009 Shanghai show. Buick’s trademark chrome “waterfall grille” is there, as is the concept’s characteristic step down in the window line, although the showcar LED headlights have been replaced by more realistic ones.

View images of the new GL8 and the Business Concept after the jump.
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Berjaya Corp granted local assembly manufacturing licence

October 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BYD, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011

berjaya byd f0

Well, another player has joined the list of local assemblers. Berjaya Corporation has been granted a manufacturing licence to build vehicles in the country by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and with that is set to assemble commercial vehicles, hybrid cars, electric cars and luxury passenger vehicles at a 100-acre plant in Bukit Tagar, Selangor.

Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Berjaya Corp’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the license would allow Berjaya more flexibility and control in terms of quality and pricing of its vehicles. The group currently holds the distribution and marketing rights to a number of brands locally, including Mazda, Chana Era, Skoda and Jinbei.

“Besides strategically complementing and widening our existing range of motor brands, this will also be a good opportunity for Berjaya Corp to promote green technology through the development of hybrid and electric vehicles which are more environmentally friendly. In line with this, we hope to expand our market share and develop a more global presence,” he said.

byd e6

The direction towards hybrid (and EV) assembly looks timely for Berjaya, given the recent full excise duty exemptions on hybrid cars below 2.0 litres until Dec 31 next year. The exemption under the budget, along with the manufacturing licence approved by MITI, effectively means that Berjaya Corp will be able to circumvent the revised National Automotive Policy’s clause of only issuing manufacturing licences for vehicles above a 1.8 litre engine displacement and RM150,000 pricing, which had earlier played havoc on its plans for local assembly.

Earlier in the year, Berjaya Corp had signed a MOU with Chinese automaker BYD Auto to locally assemble the latter’s 1.0 litre F0 four-door hatch, but the NAP directive kept that from developing. Now, with the manufacturing licence approval, the project should in all probability get underway, and the assumption is that BYD models such as e6 and F3DM should figure in plans at some point in the future.

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China wants foreign companies to disclose EV secrets

September 22, 2010 at 5:20 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under China, International News

Trouble seems to be brewing in one of the world’s largest automotive markets, China. It has been reported in the Wall Street Journal that the Chinese Government wants to force foreign companies to reveal their electric vehicle technology before they can sell their wares in China.

The country’s current proposition says that foreign automakers wishing to produce electric technology must form a joint-venture with a Chinese company. In the joint-venture, the foreign company would only hold a 49 percent stake, which basically means the Chinese company will hold a majority stake.

This is all part of the government’s 10-year plan, at making the nation “the world’s leader” in developing and producing battery-powered cars and hybrids, according to executives of four foreign auto makers. The Wall Street Journal says that the plan is to develop three to five Chinese companies into global EV and hybrid players by 2020, along with two to three global suppliers of key components such as batteries and motors.

This will be a dangerous balancing act for foreign companies as China has a lot of leverage, being one of the biggest auto buyers in the world, while revealing their tech secrets could see it being used for other purposes. The plan will be distributed among other government agencies and state-owned automakers to gauge their opinions on the matter. There is a likelihood that the technology transfer clause could be changed or even modified before the plan is commissioned. If there is no opposition to the plan, it could be put in place as soon as next month.

A very scary thought, but if Toyota’s actions are a precursor to other automakers actions, we could see a major pullout of foreign companies from China. Toyota have postponed the release of its latest generation Prius hybrid in China (which has been on sale in many other market since 2009) until they get confirmation on China’s plan.

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