Tag: China cars

China’s electric cars: socket shortage

May 3, 2013 11:20am by Patti Waldmeir

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China got a bit of a late start on the internal combustion engine and has yet to produce a globally-competitive home-grown automaker. So Beijing decided several years ago that it might be better to leapfrog that entire generation of cars and go straight to electric vehicles instead.

Unfortunately, it’s proved harder than expected to build an affordable and practical electric car in China; despite hefty government subsidies, private sales of electric cars have not got off the ground. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is no public infrastructure for charging private vehicles (taxi fleets have proven easier to convert to electric). Continue reading »

Tags: China cars, electric vehicles Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

[video] China auto sales hit by anti-graft drive

Apr 29, 2013 8:03am by beyondbrics

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China has been the bright spot in the luxury car universe for years, but in the first quarter of this year growth slowed to only 4 per cent. The FT’s Patti Waldmeir reports on how the Chinese government’s anti-corruption drive and a slowing economy are hitting luxury car sales.

Tags: China cars, luxury, video Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Shanghai auto show: joint venture brands – who is kidding whom?

Apr 22, 2013 3:16am by Patti Waldmeir

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For more than 30 years, Beijing has been trying to force foreign automakers to transfer technology to their Chinese rivals. To judge from all the happy displays of Sino-foreign joint venture cooperation at this year’s Shanghai auto show, China has now got its way. Or has it?

Tags: China cars, Shanghai auto show Posted in China | Permalink

China’s car problem won’t wash away

Apr 12, 2013 1:21pm by Patti Waldmeir

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If there was one thing that Chairman Mao Zedong’s China always promised it would not do, it was repeat the mistakes of the US by building a society based on private car ownership.

But Mao has been gone a long time now and the last decade has seen China go crazy for cars – buying so many that it is now the world’s largest auto market. And that means a lot of cars that need to be cleaned. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, China cars Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Chart of the week: carmakers shift gear in emerging markets

Mar 18, 2013 9:55am by Rob Minto

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As BMW and Volkswagen made clear last week, China and other emerging markets are the big prize for carmakers. Even if EM growth and consumer confidence falters, the outlook from previous car strongholds, especially Europe, is far worse.

So how have carmakers shifted their sales? And how much does China count for the bigger companies? Chart of the week takes a look. Continue reading »

Tags: Chart of the week, China cars Posted in Asia, China, Global | Permalink

Daimler: putting it right in China

Feb 7, 2013 9:43am by Rob Minto

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After a disappointing 2012, Daimler is predicting a modest sales recovery in 2013, with emerging markets in the driving seat.

The company, which on Thursday unveiled patchy annual results, is hoping that a recent revamp of its Chinese operations, combined with a pick-up in the Chinese car market, will make a big difference in the coming years. It needs to – rivals Audi and BMW have left Daimler trailing in China, the world’s largest single market. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, China cars, Daimler Posted in Asia, China, Europe | Permalink

China: annual vehicle exports top 1m

Jan 22, 2013 9:09am by Stefan Wagstyl

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Chery Tiggo at 2012 Sao Paulo Motor Show

Another first for China: annual vehicle exports in 2012 exceeded 1m for the first time.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers vehicle exports rose 30 per cent last year to 1,056,100. That compares with just 19,000 in 2001. A global industry transformed in a decade. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, China cars Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

China: vehicle sales to grow just 7%

Jan 11, 2013 8:16am by Stefan Wagstyl

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Booming car sales are becoming a distant memory for many Chinese dealers.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers forecast on Friday that vehicle sales would rise this year by just 7 per cent. That’s better than last year’s 4.3 per cent and the miserable 2.5 per cent recorded in 2010. But it’s far from a return to the heady days of double-digit growth. Continue reading »

Tags: China cars Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Japanese carmakers: staying the course in China, come what may

Nov 23, 2012 12:27pm by Patti Waldmeir

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Japanese carmakers have had a rough time of it in China for the past two months, hit by plummeting sales due to the Sino-Japanese islands dispute.

But they have not shied away from the Chinese auto industry’s biggest event of the autumn, the 10th China International (Guangzhou) Automobile Exhibition, held in the stronghold of Japanese cars on the mainland, southern China. Continue reading »

Tags: China cars, China-Japan, Guangzhou Auto Show, Toyota Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Japanese cars in China: business pragmatism will win out in the end

Nov 9, 2012 3:44pm by Avantika Chilkoti

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Japanese carmakers seem to be staring into the abyss in China, with buyers shunning Japanese cars since September, because of the Diaoyu islands dispute.

But AllianceBernstein analysts think this may be a passing phase. If they’re right, it could be an opportunity to buy Japanese car stocks, which are well down on the news from China. Continue reading »

Tags: China cars, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota Posted in Asia, China, Japan | Permalink

BYD’s dream: a green London, please

Oct 31, 2012 8:34am by Avantika Chilkoti

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Troubled Chinese car and battery maker BYD (Build Your Dreams) aims to supply London with its first fully electric taxis.

BYD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with greentomatocars, a “green” minicab service with a fleet of 300 hybrid and biodiesel vehicles, to provide 50 of its e6 all-electric vehicles for a six-month trial next year. Continue reading »

Tags: BYD, China cars, China-UK Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Islands row: Japan carmaker stocks slip on China sales plunge

Oct 5, 2012 8:23am by Stefan Wagstyl

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Shares in leading Japanese car makers slipped on Friday as evidence mounted of the scale of the customers’ revolt in China prompted by the territorial row between the two countries.

Whether the clients are genuinely angry about the disputed islands, or simply worried about what the neighbours might think, matters less for the hard-pressed sales executives than the hard numbers. Reuters reported on Friday that Chinese sales at Toyota Motor, the top Japanese carmaker, plunged 40 per cent last month. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, China cars, China-Japan, land disputes Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Kicking BYD when it’s down

Sep 26, 2012 9:34am by Josh Noble

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Car and battery maker BYD has had a tough couple of years. Profits have tumbled, as have shares, and indeed prices for its cars. On Wednesday, the company, and the stock, got yet another kick in the teeth.

Asia-based brokerage CLSA gave clients an update on BYD, in which it slashed its price target by 94 per cent. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, BYD, China cars Posted in China | Permalink

Hyundai: oiling the wheels in China

Sep 25, 2012 10:39am by Song Jung-a

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Despite slowing growth in auto sales, China is a market that global carmakers cannot miss, given its still huge growth potential.

So perhaps a little financing might help? Hyundai Motor will start providing auto loans from this month to Chinese consumers to boost its market share in the world’s largest car market. Continue reading »

Tags: auto loans, autos, China cars, Hyundai Motor Posted in Asia, China, South Korea | Permalink

Chinese car sales: is there life in the old dragon yet?

Jul 11, 2012 8:26am by Stefan Wagstyl

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With so much news around of the coming economic slowdown in China, it comes as a surprise to see a sharp upswing in monthly car sales – a 16 per cent increase last month to 1.28m, driven by surge in SUVs.

One month’s numbers may be a blip, with sales possibly boosted by makers and dealers trying to reach half-year targets. And shipments of trucks and buses fell 9 per cent to 300,000. But the numbers suggest that there’s still some economic life left in the Chinese dragon. Continue reading »

Tags: autos, China cars, China economy Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

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Tag: China cars

China’s electric cars: socket shortage

[video] China auto sales hit by anti-graft drive

Shanghai auto show: joint venture brands – who is kidding whom?

China’s car problem won’t wash away

Chart of the week: carmakers shift gear in emerging markets

Daimler: putting it right in China

China: annual vehicle exports top 1m

China: vehicle sales to grow just 7%

Japanese carmakers: staying the course in China, come what may

Japanese cars in China: business pragmatism will win out in the end

BYD’s dream: a green London, please

Islands row: Japan carmaker stocks slip on China sales plunge

Kicking BYD when it’s down

Hyundai: oiling the wheels in China

Chinese car sales: is there life in the old dragon yet?

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