China's auto output, sales both exceed 3.5 mln units in first half

China's automobile production and sales picked up in the first half of this year, both exceeding 3.5 million units, according to a source with the National Development and Reform Commission.
China's automobile output increased by 27.8 percent year-on-year in the first six months, said Zhu Hongren, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission at a press conference here on Tuesday.
During this period, the production of sedan cars surged by a whopping 53.2 percent over the same period last year.
Statistics also show that automobile sales registered a yearly growth of 26.7 percent in the first six months, with sedan car sales up 46.9 percent.
Zhu said the huge increase in automobile sales will contribute to the growth of domestic consumption.
China's economy surged 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006, the fastest growth in a decade.

Sales of China-made Volvo S40 to hit 4,000 before year end

Four thousand China-made Volvo S40 models will be sold by the end of the year, according to manufacturer Changan Ford Auto Company, based in Chongqing.
The Volvo S40 2.4i will cost 305,000 yuan and the Volvo S40 T5 will cost 368,000 yuan. According to the cooperation agreement between the Swedish car manufacturer and Changan Ford, Volvo has granted a licence to Changan to manufacture and sell cars throughout China.
As the first Volvo model to be produced in China, S40 is described as "luxurious but not too expensive". Reservations for the S40 have already been made after the first 142 cars were produced in June.

Nanjing Automobile produces cars in Britain

On July 17th in London, Yu Jianwei, general manager of Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. of China, announced the company's development strategy for MG cars. The company plans to release the vehicle in both China and overseas. It will construct production bases for the MG in Nanjing, China and Longbridge, England. It will improve the MG as well as develop new models.
Mr. Yu also said the MGF roadster, made at the former MG-Rover plant in Birmingham, England, will be launched on the British market in the second half of 2007. Initially, Nanjing Automobile will produce 15,000 cars a year in the Longbridge plant.
By People's Daily Online

BMW recalls 2,662 vehicles on Chinese mainland

BMW Group and Shenyang-based Brilliance Automotive Corp have decided to recall 2,662 vehicles on Chinese mainland because of a deficiency in the rear absorber, which could cause an accident.
Of the 2,662 vehicles, which include BMW 5, 6, and 7 series cars, 2,131 units are imported and 531 units are domestically made. BMW's authorized maintenance sites will inform customers and check vehicles.
As yet, no accidents have been reported.

Bright prospects of China's green car industry

China's Chaoyue(meaning to surpass) No. 3 fuel cell driven car from Shanghai received four gold medals during the Michelin Challenge Bibendum 2006 being held in Paris in June. The four categories of winning class A is in carbon dioxide emissions, emissions, noise and fuel efficiency. The car only consumes 1.03 kg of hydrogen for 100 kilometers.
This was the result of five years hard-work and the application of proper strategic policy in China's car industry.
Starting in 2001, China has decided to put electric car research and development at the top of the agenda of the 10th five year plan key scientific and technological projects. Special attention has been given to manufacturing, researching and developing electric cars, hybrid fuel cars and fuel cell cars.
Now China can claim itself ranking among the world advanced countries in car industry and has formed a strategy to transform its car energy system.
But five years ago, China's car industry had just started; new models, new brands and new production lines are the most concerns.
Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua paid great attention to this issue and studied the situation of the world car industry. He asked his colleagues about it and got to know that when a country's per capita GDP surpasses US$ 1000, it is unavoidable to see cars enter most households. Looking at the oil market, China became net oil importer in 1993 and in 2000 China imported 70 million tons of oil with a cost of US$ 20 billion. At such speed, there will be a day that one can have a lot of money, but still not be able to buy any oil.
Many countries in the world have made policies to encourage research and development of new technologies to replace traditional fossil fuel-oil or gas for automobiles. Among these technologies, the electric car is the most promising type. By 2000, Japan had 200 thousand of such cars. In California, it stipulated that by 2001, electric cars will account for 5% of the total and by 2003, 10%, otherwise, they will face penalties. The EU also invested billions of Euros to develop fuel cell buses.
Even for the purpose of energy saving and preventing pollution, China should develop its own electric cars.
Electric cars can be divided into three types - fuel cell cars, hybrid cars and pure electric cars. Fuel cell cars mainly burn hydrogen and only produce water out of it, and its efficiency is higher than the internal combustion engine. A hybrid vehicle uses multiple energy sources or propulsion systems to provide motive power. It most commonly refers to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, which uses gasoline (petrol) and electric batteries for energy used to power internal-combustion engines (ICEs) and electric motors. These vehicles can be used in cities when one can drive with lower speed, but start and stop very often. Pure electric buses are completely driven by outside batteries which have little noise, no emission and proper for special locations.
China has a lack of such kind of talented people who know all about car manufacturing, new energy and markets. Fortunately, Wan Gang who used to work in German Audi Company quit his job in Germany and returned to China. He was granted as the chief scientist and appointed as the team leader of the key electric car research and development project. They decided to research in the three types of car technologies as well as energy driving system and batteries key technologies. Meanwhile, they also study policies, regulations and technologies and standards.
After five years of hard work, they finally succeeded in producing these three types of cars. Their fuel cell car technology has proved successful amongst the world advanced countries during the Paris competition. Their hybrid buses are used for passenger transportation and can be manufactured with a small scale while the pure electric cars are also manufactured in certain scale and are exported.
On May 20th in Shanghai, a light blue-colored shuttle bus was parking in Yichulianhua bridge area. It was branded as Chuangxin No 1, meaning Creative No 1. Passengers can easily feel that the fuel cell bus is very quiet. Currently seven cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shenzhen have started pilot operation of this kind of bus. So far the mileage of the fuel cars and buses have surpassed 30 thousand kilometers, the cost of equivalent gas is 4 liter and 12 liter per 100 kilometers respectively.
The No 1 Automobile Company, Dongfeng, Chang'an and other car-manufacturers are all researching and manufacturing hybrid cars and bus samples which can save gas by 30% and reduce emission by 30% too. Their speed can be as high as 160 and 80 kilometers per hour respectively.
Beijing Keling Company has developed four types of electric buses and costs only 70 kilowatts/hour per 100 kilometers. Tianjin Qingyuan Company has exported 112 electric cars to the USA.
Minister Xu Guanhua said China's auto industry should fully assess its impact on resources and environment and fully consider market demand, oil price change trend and the application basis of new technology R&D during its development. Insiders should be aware of the importance of developing the electric cars, hybrid vehicles and fuel cell cars in the long run.

The Paris green car challenge also shows that the energy-saving, environmentally friendly type of automobile will be the main trend in the future. This will gradually be well understood around the world auto industry as well as amongst consumers

Sales volume of Benz rise by 25 percent in China

Sales of Mercedes-Benz in China surged 25 percent in the first five months of this year to reach 13,122 units, Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday.
Till Becker, CEO of DaimlerChrysler in Northeast Asia attributed the sales increase to strong demand for the Benz-S series.
The report said the consumption tax introduced by China on April 1, which was aimed at discouraging consumers from buying cars with large engines seems to have had little impact on the sales of imported luxury sedans.
The 300C series, which is scheduled to be produced in BeiJing by Mercedes-Benz (China), saw January to May sales jump 67 percent compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the newspaper reported that sales of BMW's also grew by 50 percent in the first quarter of the year to reach 4,773 units.

China's automobile imports see sharp increase in first five months

In the first five months, China's automobile imports (including the complete sets of automobile spare parts) soared to 87,000 units, up by 80% over the same period of last year according to the statistics released by the General Administration of Customs. Analysts explained that the dealers increased car imports in the first quarter due to the coming increase of consumer tax from April, but the imports saw a decline in April and further drop in May. Despite that, the imports in the first five months witnessed a surge of 80% because of the sharp increase in the first quarter.

GM to roll out new made-in-China Cadillac

A new made-in-China Cadillac will be released in November when Shanghai GM resumes production of its Cadillac cars after halting manufacture earlier this year.
Shanghai GM Spokesman Chen Yanming said yesterday that Cadillac cars would be manufactured in China again earlier than expected because of brisk sales of the marque. It has been widely reported that Shanghai GM would not start making Cadillac cars in China until 2007.
"The new Cadillac sedans made in China are to roll into showrooms by November and will be featured at the Beijing Auto Expo this November," Chen said. "It is a new and real made-in-China Cadillac."
The new model, yet to be unveiled to the public, is expected to be Cadillac's flagship model to gain a niche in China's luxury car market.
Production of some models of prestigious European brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz has already begun in China, while exclusive and expensive marques like Ferrari and Bentley have set up nationwide sales networks.
Chen said Shanghai GM will start large-scale production of the more upmarket Cadillac model next year.
Experts familiar with the business of Shanghai-based Dazhen Consulting Company predicted the new Chinese-made model would be Cadillac's STS, the largest and most expensive car in the line-up.
The move is seen as a firm strategy by GM to expand its presence in China's high-end car market to make up for its shrinking market share in the United States.
Besides the new model, Shanghai GM is considering making more Cadillac cars in China next year, taking advantage of the country's booming new wealth and the increasingly competitive local auto parts suppliers.
Global leading auto parts companies including Delphi, Visteon and Bosh have all established factories and design centres in Shanghai.
Cadillac believes sales outside North America could reach about 20,000 vehicles a year by 2010, and much of the growth will come from China and Europe where Cadillac is studying plans to add new cars to the line-up.
"We are committed to making Cadillac in China and we have been prepared for three years for the new model," Chen said. "Our pace making Cadillac has never stopped in the past three years when we began to sell imported Cadillac cars in China."
Earlier this year, Shanghai GM announced it would halt production of Cadillac in China, where it began building Cadillac luxury cars in 2004. It was rumoured Shanghai GM would make a shift in its China market strategy and eventually withdraw production capabilities in China. Chen said the suspicion was groundless.
"We halted production of Cadillac in China mostly to adjust to new auto policies released earlier this year," said Chen. Under the new policy, Cadillac cars made in China would not meet the standard of domestically made cars that used exported auto parts including engines and mechanical systems.

China Exclusive: Hyundai scandal tests Chinese auto dealers' faith

The negative impact of the bribery scandal surrounding the Republic of Korea's (ROK) automobile manufacturer Hyundai on the Chinese market is becoming apparent.
The lack of response from Hyundai headquarters to the scandal will probably undermine global sales and, as one of the most important markets for Hyundai automobiles, China is doomed to suffer, a Chinese car dealer, who only agreed to disclose his surname as Jia, told Xinhua on Sunday.
Hyundai's Chairman Chung Mong-koo was detained on April 28 as part of an investigation into bribery allegations.
The 68-year-old is under suspicion of embezzling about 130 billion won (about 137.2 million dollars) to establish a slush fund for bribery and is believed to have caused 390 billion won (about 412.6 million dollars) worth of damage to the company's interests.
A number of Hyundai's senior executives have been arrested since the prosecutors raided the offices of the Hyundai Motor and its affiliates last month to seize evidence that Hyundai Motor Group had created slush funds worth millions of U.S. dollars to bribe government officials during the past several years.
Hyundai Motor Group is South Korea's second-largest conglomerate and controls more than 70 percent of the domestic auto market.
Official statistics show that Hyundai has so far signed 24 Chinese dealers and 85 maintenance outlets throughout the country.
Information from the company show that Hyundai has set a target of occupying more than 20 percent of the China auto market by 2010.
"The scandal, however, is a real test of our faith in the Hyundai," the dealer commented ironically.
According to the insider with the Hyundai Motor China office, the company has made very detailed plans on imports into the Chinese market, but "now the plans are on hold".
However, when facing questions about the further handling of the scandal from its Chinese partners, the Hyundai Motor China office still chooses to remain silent.
No statement can be found on the company's Website and the PR department has declined to comment on the issue.
Analysts believe the scandal has severely damaged the brand name of the Hyundai product in China, and furthermore, the slow response or no response from the Hyundai headquarters will surely worsen the situation.
It will also disrupt Hyundai's global market strategy which leads to the dealers' confusion over the future market situation, analysts predicted.
"It's just like someone getting sick - the pain in the head will affect the hands and legs", Jia said.
The panic among Chinese dealers shows that the markets between the ROK and China have become closely tied and the Chinese market has become very sensitive to any good or bad Hyundai news in the ROK, Jia said, expressing his hope that the issue could be settled "sooner rather than later" so as to reduce the negative impact "to the minimum level".

New auto models to hit the road

In the first fourth months, the passenger vehicle sales on the Chinese market soared nearly by 50 percent over the same period of last year. Automakers sped up the launch of new models after the May Day holiday to further boost the sales.
Different from the first quarter, the new round of launch is characterized by the upgraded versions of old cars and different equipments of new cars except from Guangzhou Toyota's Camry, South East Motor's Mitsubishi Lancer and Jiangling's Landwind Fengshang. Nevertheless, the relatively sophisticated cars with better price performance will more attract consumers, and the manufactures also lay great hope in them.

Shanghai Volkswagen new Polo models

New Polo models with two vans or three vans have been off production line recently, under the Chinese names of Polo Jinqing and Polo Jinqu respectively. The look of new Polo models adopted German VW U shape line, with the major features of boldness, masculine and unrestraint. It still inherits the Polo characteristics of excellent technique, safe performance and fashion. The interior and power engine underwent significant changes.
FAW VW Sagitar 1.6 L version
FAW VW Sagitar has been offered on the Beijing market. The manual-shift model is priced at 149,800 yuan and the manual & auto-shift model at 162,800 yuan. The 1.6 L-model is equipped with ESP and power engine with silent chain for timing transmission. By May 23, FAW VW has received 7,150 orders and 4,000 intention orders for Sagitar.
Buick Regal 2006 new models
Shanghai GM announced its Buik Regal 2006 recently. The new series trimmed the five models of the old version into two models: 2.5 L luxurious cars and 2.0 L comfortable ones, with the price of 195,800 yuan and 175,800 yuan respectively. With the double-layer sunroof, genuine leather seats and steering wheel, auto adjustment of driver's seat and reverse radar, the 2.5 luxurious model is very competitive among those powered by V6 engine within 200,000 yuan.
New Peugeot 307 upgrade CMS
All series of new Peugeot 307 adopting CMS technology have been officially launched into the Chinese market including 2.0 L and 1.6 L models with prices still ranging from 129,800 to 191,800 yuan. The new models are equipped with auto air-conditioner and new dashboard providing intelligent information. The 2.0 L model is installed with CVTS, having maximum power of 108 kilowatts, and accelerates in only 9.1 seconds to 100 km/h. And the 2.0 L model meets EURO IV exhaust gas emission standards and the consumption of petroleum falls by 3 percent.
Passat Lingyu
Following two models of 2.8 V6 and 1.8T which ranked the second of mid-high sedan sales in the first quarter, Shanghai Volkswagen launched Passat Lingyu 2.0 L models. The manual shift one is priced at 183,800 yuan. Passat Lingyu 2.0 L is equipped with DST which enables speed increase more quickly and oil consumption decrease. It also meets EUR IV exhaust gas emission standards.
2006 Buick GL8 Firstland

Beijing Benz unveils Chinese mark


A China-made Benz E-class car with Chinese mark parks in the new factory district of Beijing Benz Daimler Chrysler Limited Company (BBDC). According to BBDC, the China-made Benz cars have got its Chinese mark reading"Beijing Benz-Daimler Chrysler". The Chinese marks have appeared on the rear of all China-made Benz cars.

(China Economic Review)

China auto giant to compete with JV partners

Government-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp has announced plans to make its own high-end sedan using the technical expertise and experience it has gained from joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen AG, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new car, which is expected to be ready for market in six months, will be a modified version of MG Rover Group's luxury, four-door sedan Rover 75, and will compete directly with its joint venture partners’ offerings. Shanghai Automotive spokeswoman Zhu Xiangjun said the brand will foster a "healthy" rivalry that will "drive" the joint ventures to "further improve their competitiveness." GM and VW offered muted responses but Michael Dunne, president of consultancy Automotive Resources Asia, said it was a “watershed” moment in China’s auto industry. "The Chinese formed joint ventures for one purpose: to learn how to do it themselves one day. That day is here.

(China Economic Review)

VW to boost exports from China

German carmaker Volkswagen said it is planning to sign contracts to increase exports of Chinese car parts from just US$100 million to US$1 billion by the end of this year. The plan is timely for the government after it set a target last year of increasing exports of auto parts from just US$5 billion to US$100 billion by 2010. But VW is expected to draw flak in Germany, where it is currently in talks with its trade unions about the future of its expensive production facilities, many of which it hopes to sell or close.The plan comes after the company, which set up its first car assembly joint venture in 1985, put in new management last year and vowed to make its joint ventures with First Auto Works and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp work more closely after suffering losses recently.

(China Economic Review)

China expresses regret for EU's plan to file WTO complaint over auto parts

China's Ministry of Commerce has expressed regrets on the European Union's plan to file a WTO complaint against China over auto parts.
The ministry posted Friday on its official website the statement of its spokesman, Cong Quan, on this issue. Cong claimed that China is seriously considering the request for dispute settlement consultations from the EU and US on auto parts.
On March 30 in Brussels, WTO commissioners of the EU and the United States sent their requests to China's WTO commissioner Sun Zhenyu, seeking WTO talks with China on car parts tariffs.
The EU complained that some of China's rules on car import tariffs are not in accord with WTO rules putting European car manufacturers at a disadvantage compared to local producers.
China claimed that these measures are aimed at curbing tax evasion by some foreign auto manufactures, saying that some of them disassemble their cars before importing and then reassemble them in China thereby avoiding customs payments on importing whole cars.

Volvo to launch domestic production

Ford Motor’s Volvo Cars unit is to manufacture cars in China for the first time, the Financial Times reported. The carmaker is to start producing the S40 sport sedan between June and August with partner Changan in Chongqing. After an initial start-up phase, annual production will be 10,000 units - nearly double the sales of imported Volvos in China last year. Volvo intends to localize production of popular models despite concern about overcapacity in the highly competitive industry. The S40 will have to compete with models from manufacturers that have already established production in China, including DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen’s Audi and BMW.

(China Economic Review)

China's auto market to grow 10 percent in next two decades: expert

A Chinese expert predicts the country's auto market will maintain a 10 percent growth over the next 20 years, Beijing News reported on Monday.
Xu Changming, an expert from the Resources Development Department of the State Information Center, forecast in his report on the mid- and long-range development trends of China's auto market that the auto industry will continue its rapid growth over the next two decades.
China's investment in the auto industry reached 100 billion yuan ( about 12.4 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the latest statistics released by the People's Bank of China.
China's auto manufacturing has increased by a million vehicles in each of the last five years, according to statistics.
Last year, the country produced about 6.2 million units compared to less than 150,000 units in 1978.
Investment in the sector reached 100 billion yuan in 2005, double that of 2002.

Auto sales expected to climb 12% driven by small car push

Car sales in China will reach a record high of 6.4 million to 6.6 million this year, a 12 per cent rise year- on-year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has forecast.

Fuelled by the central government policy to encourage the use of smaller and more energy-efficient models, passenger cars will lead the growth to place China as the world's second-largest auto market after the United States .

In a press release, CAAM, one of the most important sources of industry information, reported that in 2005, 5.9 million auto units were sold in China, higher than Japan 's 5.8 million and Germany 's 5.2 million.

However, opinions in Chinese language press argued, after taking away China's export and the factor of double counting, the number of units actually sold in China was around 5.7 million.

This year, though, car dealers are reportedly already seeing a promising trend, especially during their heated sales campaigns before and during Spring Festival.

Even before the festival, a Tianjin dealership for Geely a domestic brand reported 70 buyers were still waiting for the delivery of their new cars, said Zhao Jian, the dealership's general manager.

Strong sales were reported in Beijing and Guangzhou as well. Braving sub-zero weather on Friday, in Beijing's Yayuncun (Asian Games Village) auto market a man surnamed Wu told China Daily that he wanted to buy a car.

"I began to think about having a car a long time ago," he said. "And in this festival season, and seeing such tempting festival sales, I really can no longer wait to let my dream come true."

According to the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau, there are 1.54 million privately owned automobiles in the capital city.

Including the units owned by various institutions, the city has 2.15 million automobiles, or about one car for every seven people. Car sales are also on the rise in some second-tier cities.

"We cannot rest for a single day," said a sales manager of a Ford dealership in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

"There were buyers knocking on our door on Lunar New Year's Eve. They drove away even the demonstration cars we had in our showroom."

The central government wanted all local governments to lift their restrictions on smaller models before the end of March as part of its effort to reduce China's dependence on oil imports.

Currently, 16 China-based car manufacturers are reportedly vying to roll out 25 new, smaller, low-emission models.

Honda to sell TL luxury sedan in China

Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. lately announced plans to add TL brand to its Acura luxury fleets which is to be launched in China this year. TL sedans are manufactured in the North America.

Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. is setting up a Acura dealer network and sales of the Acura brand in China is planned to begin in spring 2006. Apart from TL, its flagship luxury sedan RL will also be sold in China.

Honda will gradually introduce other Acura brands to China in order to meet Chinese demands for exclusive cars.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (People's Daily Info)

Mercedez sells 39 percent more autos in China last year

The Mercedez Auto group sold 16,128 sedans in China last year, up 39 percent compared with the previous year.

Mercedez will promote more new brands this year, to cater for the growing demand in China. The group also planned to invest 1.5 billion euros in producing Mercedez sedans and commercial cars in China, including manufacturing Chrysler 300C type in Beijing .

Last September, Mercedez started financial services in China's mainland for sedans and commercial autos.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

Toyota Camry to go on sale in China in May

Toyota Camry will start manufacture in China and be unveiled on May 26 in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, according to Yuan Zhongrong, executive deputy general manager of Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

Guangzhou Toyota's factory at Nansha held an inauguration ceremony for trial production on Jan. 10, 2006.

Its 120 sales outlets around China will soon receive orders for Camery. As much as 70 percent of Camry will be localized and 50 percent of the related suppliers will come from the Pearl River Delta.

Camry of 2.0L and 2.4L will be on sale at the end of May. Toyota sets a sales goal of 50,000 cars for the second half of the year.

According to Yuan, the biggest advantage of Camry is cost rather than price. "Limousines like BMW's and intermediate cars are all our rivals," Yuan added

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

Ford auto sales hit record in China last year

The Ford Motor Company sold over 220,000 autos in China last year, setting a record high, according to statistics released Tuesday.

The sales of different brands such as Ford, Lincoln, Land Rover, Jaguar and Volvo totaled 89,489 last year, with the growth rate much higher than the average. The joint venture company Chang'an Ford also sold 61,013 autos, up 41 percent compared with the previous year.

Ford Motor established a financial company last July in China, providing personal credit business in Beijing and Shanghai , and will expand business to more Chinese cities, said Cheng Meiwei, president of Ford China.

He said the key investment project also achieved progress in China last year, laying a solid foundation for Ford's further business. "We are confident of China's auto potential and prepared to supply quality and competitive products to more Chinese customers."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

Shanghai General Motors tops in 2005 auto sales ranking

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has released its latest statistics with a ranking of China's motor vehicles companies based on their sales volume in 2005.

The top 10 companies on the list are: Shanghai General Motors, Shanghai Volkswagen, China FAW Group Corporation, Beijing Hyundai, Guangzhou Honda, Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile, Chery Company, Dongfeng-Nissan, Geely Holding Group and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen automobile Company.

It is the first time for Dongfeng-Nissan and Geely to enter the top 10. The 10 companies sold 2.03 million autos in all, accounting for 72.87 per cent of China's auto market in 2005, an increase of 0.57 percentage points over that of the 2004's top 10 automakers.

CAAM statistics show that the 10 companies sold 298,600, 244,700, 238,300, 224,700, 203,200, 190,000, 184,000, 157,500, 149,900 and 140,400 cars respectively last year. Compared with the previous year, the sales of Shanghai Volkswagen and China FAW Group Corporation dropped a little while the other enterprises continued a fast sales growth. Among them, the sales of Chery and Dongfeng-Nissan autos increased by a big margin.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

China reports surge in home-made vehicle sales, output in 2005

China reported a surge in output and sales of home-made vehicles in 2005, both surpassing 5.7 million units, China Daily reported Saturday.

Last year, China's vehicle output grew 12.56 percent to 5.71 million units over the previous year, and sales of domestically made vehicles grew 13.54 percent to 5.76 million units, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

However, the growth rates of output and sales in 2005 dropped by 14.11 percent and 15.5 percent respectively compared to the previous period.

Last year, output and sales of passenger vehicles, including cars, sport utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans, increased more rapidly than the overall output and sales growth rates.

Among them, car output and sales posted the fastest growth of more than 24 percent. The 2005 car sales and output reached 2.77 million units and 2.79 million units.

"The strong passenger vehicle sales last year mainly resulted from booming demand in China's second and third-tier cities," Xu Changming, an auto industry analyst with the State Information Centre, was quoted by China Daily as saying.

In contrast, both output and sales of commercial vehicles trucks and buses tumbled slightly last year from 2004, amounting to 1.78 million and 1.79 million units respectively.

China imported 160,000 vehicles last year, down from 175,000 units in 2004, said sources from the China Trading Centre of Automobile Imports.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

BMW sees 52.4 percent sales growth in China in 2005

Automaker giant BMW has witnessed a 52.4 percent increase of its annual sales incomes on Chinese mainland, the overseas market with the fastest sales growth, forming a sharp contract with the decline of 15.3 percent one year ago.

BMW's annual statement shows that a total of 23,595cars have been sold on Chinese mainland last year, a year-on-year increase of 52.4 percent, including 15,300 homemade Huachen BMW, up 76.7 percent. The sales growth on Chinese mainland is much higher than 9.9 percent, BMW's global sales increase last year. So far, Chinese mainland has become BMW's fastest growing overseas market.

However, BMW suffered an unprecedented sales sluggishness with only 15,829 cars sold on Chinese mainland in 2004, the only market that recorded negative sales growth.

The annual report also shows BMW has experienced booming sales in Great China region (HK, Macao and Taiwan included). In 2005, the gross sales volume of BWM and MINI brands in the region recorded 33,020, an increase of 36 percent annually; the sales volume of BWM 3 series on Chinese mainland reached 8,246, including 1,119 new generation sedans BMW3 series which have been put into market on Sep. 2005, doubling the gross sales from 2004; 7,054 BMW 5 series sedans have been sold last year, up 62.3 percent; and the sales of BMW's 7 series sedans topped 5,650, up 19 percent.

So far, Greater China Region has become the world's second largest market for BMW's 7 series next to Germany .

Audi to launch S8 in China

Audi's top-notch luxurious sports car S8 will be introduced to the Chinese market in 2006. The price will be around 1 million yuan.

It is reported that Audi S8, priced about 976,000 euros, has begun receiving orders in Europe, but it has not been delivered yet. The formal launch of S8 is expected to take place in mid 2007.

Audi said it will try utmost to make the S8 available at the Chinese market at the same time it is launched globally. This is the first time that Audi has introduced the series to China. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(People's Daily Info)

China rules out curbs on low-emission, economical cars

China Wednesday demanded a nationwide canceling of restrictions on low-emission, economical cars, setting the end of this March as the deadline.

The move is part of efforts to reduce oil consumption and air pollution, said a report issued by the National Development and Research Center (NDRC) Wednesday.

The report said that low-emission cars would be charged less parking fees, an attempt to attract more consumers to buy environment-friendly and energy-saving vehicles.

Small cars are also encouraged to be used as taxies and more investment will be made in low-emission, oil-saving cars, including research on engines, the report said.

To date, small autos are not permitted to run in more than 80 cities in the country despite Primer Wen Jiabao's call for doing away with restrictions on cars with low emission, low oil consumption and high efficiency last summer.

In China's national capital, Beijing, for example, cars that have below 1.0-liter emission are not permitted to travel in the Chang'an Boulevard, the longest and most bustling street.

"If Beijing truly cancels (restrictions on small cars), my 0.8-emission liter chary QQ (a Chinese domestic auto brand name) can take me directly to the office. I won't have to make a detour and it will save time and oil," said a man surnamed Gao, who works in a office-building in the Chang'an street.

Signals favoring low-emission cars are being read in the market. According to statistics, the first nine months of this year witnessed the number of cars below 1.6-litre emission standing at 1,240,900, accounting for 64.17 percent of the total and the sale of cars below 1.0-litre emission rose by 93.69 percent year on year to 248,000.

Industrial statistics show that China imports 40 percent of its total oil consumption, one third of which is used in car engines.

Owing to soaring world oil prices, China has seen its refined oil price rise five times in 2005.

The number of private cars is expected to reach 17 million by the end of this year from the 2000 figure of 6.25 million, more than double during the previous five-year period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Source: Xinhua news)

DaimlerChrysler suspends mangers over bribe accusations

German-American joint auto giant DaimlerChrysler has suspended a few managers over accusations that they secured import licenses for Iraq through bribes, German media reported Saturday.

The weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported nine managers of DaimlerChrysler Overseas (DCOS), which is operating sales to Russia , Africa and other regions, were suspended.

But The Bild newspaper said that six DCOS executives and their aides were disciplined.

The United Nations and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are probing the auto company over charges that it bribed officials issuing licenses under UN's Oil-for-food program for Saddam Hussein -led Iraq.

Import licenses for Iraq at that time was scarce, as the United Nations had been imposing trade sanctions against the country.

The company's headquarters in Stuttgart did not comment on the suspension of manager, but said it was voluntarily handing over the results of its internal inquiries to the UN and U.S. investigators .

Add: Room 1142 Greelake Office Building
No.9