Porsche 911 Turbo S China 10th Anniversary Edition
2001 was the year when the German automaker opened the Porsche Center Beijing Central and in order to honor the 10-year milestone, the company has decided to roll out a very limited edition 911, based on the Turbo S model. No wonder Porsche has decided to take this step if we take into consideration that China has become the second largest market for the company, managing to achieve an incredible growth over these last few years from only 27 units sold in 2002 to a whopping 13,856 in 2010.
There are going to be only 10 units of this Porsche 911 Turbo S China 10th Anniversary Edition and each of them will feature a bespoke “gold bronze” exterior finish, which will be contrasted by the carbon fiber bonnet, the matte black rims and the black headlight surrounds.
As far as the cabin is concerned, the gold & black theme continues, adding a few hints of Alcantara and leather to round up the styling. The sills and door panels get carbon fiber and gold stitching. As you might have expected already, all of the 10 cars will get a uniquely numbered plaque that denotes the car’s numbering.
Porsche 911 Turbo S China 10th Anniversary Edition
Taking into consideration that this limited edition is based on the 2011 911 Turbo S, it means that it is powered by a 6-cylinder, twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter engine that produces 530 hp and 516 lb.-ft of torque. Those who will buy the cars will have to settle with the 7-speed PDK dual clutch gearbox and the AWD configuration as there are no alternatives. In addition, it will come with the launch control system, which means that it will be able to do the 0-62 mph sprint in a mere 3.3 seconds, 0-124 mph in 10,8 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 195 mph.
Source: Porsche via Motor Authority
Post tags: Tags: anniversary edition, china, porsche 911 turbo s china
Lorinser 2010 S-Class Facelift Aerokit
During this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, the German tuning company Lorinser brought a heavily modified Mercedes S-Class, packing 810 hp (821 PS / 604 kW). Dubbed Lorinser S70, the car was sold to a Chinese customer for 500,000 Euros (4.8 million Yuan Renminbi). This shouldn’t come as a surprise if we look at the automotive market in China, were sales of luxury cars have skyrocketed in the last few months and they will probably continue to do so in the years to come.
Now it seems that tuners have a huge market to exploit and we’re pretty sure that more and more companies like Lorinser will roll out modified cars especially for this market.
PS: The car in the picture is the Lorinser 2010 S-Class Facelift Aerokit.
Source: China Car Times via WCF
Post tags: Tags: china, lorinser s70, mercedes s-class, shanghai auto show, Tuning
Another automaker that will launch models that are going to be exclusive to the Chinese market is Hyundai. They’ve revealed yesterday at the Shanghai Auto Show, two new models: the Elantra Yuedong and the Azera (aka Grandeur).
The first one is a facelift version of the U.S.-spec 4th generation of the Elantra that has been launched last year. Inside, the Korean automaker Hyundai says that they’ve upgraded the cabin with materials of higher quality, as well as new convenience and safety features, like the smart key / button start, navigation, front side airbag, MDPS – Motor Driven Power Steering, eco-driving guide system and a handy USB port.
The car will be powered by either a 4-cylinder 1.6-liter or a more powerful 1.8-liter plant. Being a compact sedan, the Elantra Yuedong will have to compete in the biggest segment in China. In 2008, people bought 2.11 million compacts sedans; one year later, sales went up to 3.24 million, while last year they’ve reached almost 4 million units. According to industry forecasts, sales figures will reach an incredible 6 million units by 2013.
Moving on, the Azera will be marketed there as a cheaper alternative to the more premium models in the mid-size segment. Under the hood, the car will feature either a 4-cylinder 2.4-liter engine that churns out 180 hp, or a more powerful V6 3.0-liter that develops 250 hp.
Both models are expected to make an appearance in Hyundai’s showrooms within the next couple of months.
Source: Hyundai via Carscoop
Post tags: Tags: china, hyundai azera, hyundai elantra yuedong, shanghai auto show
The 2011 Shanghai Auto Show is just around the corner and Ford has recently announced that they will be introducing 15 new models and double workforce by 2015 in what is at the moment the world’s largest automotive market. For achieving this ambitious objective, the Blue Oval will have to double its dealership network in China, from 340 today to about 680.
The first model that the North American automaker will introduce is the new generation of the Focus, which is slated to go into production next year at an all-new plant in Chongqing in which the company invested $490 million. Initially, this factory will have a capacity of 150,000 cars annually.
The company also said that they will double their workforce in China by 2015, adding 1,200 jobs. This year, Ford will create 550 jobs in various departments, like manufacturing, engineering, marketing sales & service, IT, finance, communications, legal division and government affairs. These new jobs will be at the automaker’s operations in Chongqing, Nanchang, Nanjing and Shanghai.
The market in China is very important for Ford and they are targeting a 70% growth in the next years that will come from the Asia Pacific and Africa region.
Source: Ford via Carscoop
Post tags: Tags: china, Ford
You probably know by now that China’s automotive market has boomed in the last years and it will continue to do so for at least a couple of years from now. Peugeot has decided to make the most out of this and they are going to reinforce their presence in this country by launching (at least) one model per year. At first, they are going to launch the beautiful 508 sedan, along with a brand new concept model, which will be revealed next week at the Shanghai Auto Show.
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Post tags: Tags: china, peugeot 508, shanghai auto show
China-spec BMW 5-Series LWB Hybrid
You all know BMW, right? Well, they’ve teamed up with joint venture partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. in order to develop a brand new plug-in hybrid model based on the LWB (long wheelbase) version of the China-spec 5-Series sedan model. Later on this month we will see the prototype model at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show.
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Post tags: Tags: bmw 5-series hybrid, china
VW Jetta (Chinese-Market Version)
The Volkswagen Jetta model for the Chinese market will make an appearance next month at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show and from the looks of these pictures, it will look just about the same as the 6th gen model launched last year in the United States. These images come from a Chinese government patent office and the German automaker is planning to launch this NCS (New Compact Sedan) in China in the months to come.
VW Jetta (Chinese-Market Version)
There aren’t many details available at the moment, but it seems that Volkswagen may be treading somewhat on the success of the Audi A4 and A4L (long wheelbase) Chinese-market models. According to ChinaCarTimes.com, Shanghai-VW will make this Jetta while FAW-VW will be responsible for launching a facelift version of the Magotan (B7 Passat).
VW Jetta (Chinese-Market Version)
The German automaker VW sells the current 5th generation of the Jetta in China under the “Sagitar” designation. How this model will fit in the company’s product strategy for the Chinese market is another question as both the current gen Passat (aka B6) and the new North American Passat (formerly known as the NMS) are factors to be reckoned with.
VW Jetta (Chinese-Market Version)
Most likely, the new NCS will have its official debut at the 2011 Shanghai Motor Show which will be organized in April.
Source: ChinaCarTimes.com via WCF
Post tags: Tags: china, volkswagen jetta
The Spanish automaker Seat, part of the Volkswagen Group, will make its first appearance in China at the Shanghai Motor Show which will take place next month. The company expects to start selling cars there from early next year. The first commercialized models will be the Cupra versions of the Ibiza and Leon, made in the factory at Martorell, near Barcelona.
In the following years, Seat might open up a factory in China but this first step into Asian territory is part of a drive to increase production at the aforementioned Martorell plant, which makes less than 500,000 cars annually. Last year, the factory generated losses consisting of 311 million Euros.
In 2010 Seat regained its position as market leader in its homeland after a pause of 31 years, but the overall car sales dropped by 40%. Taking into consideration that the Spanish car manufacturer will certainly not see a fast recovery in its core markets, they need to expand beyond Europe’s borders. At the moment they only sell cars (outside Europe) in Mexico, where the company has been somewhat successful with the old-generation Cordoba and the recent Ibiza model. The company hopes to use the Mexican market as a launch pad for other Central American countries.
Source: Autocar.co.uk
Post tags: Tags: china, seat ibiza cupra, seat leon cupra
You probably know by now that China has one of the fastest growing automotive markets in the world and more manufacturers are either building new factories or forming alliances with other companies that are already established in the country, in their search of grabbing more and more customers.
Volvo is about to do the same thing as at a press conference held yesterday in Beijing, the Chinese-owned Volvo Cars revealed its plans to construct a new factory in Chengdu and will continue investigations for a second plant in Daqing, located in NE China. The automaker said that the deal is still pending approval from the local government.
The aforementioned Chengdu factory will manufacture only Volvo cars and will have an initial output of about 100,000 cars per year and the production is estimated to start sometime in 2013. The automaker said that this decision to expand in the Chinese market will not have consequences for the operations and the employment in Europe.
If you don’t remember, Volvo was bought from Ford by China-based Geely in 2010. The Swedish automaker said that the city of Shanghai will be the Volvo Car China’s HQ and centre for product development, design and sourcing.
The officials at Volvo affirmed that they plan on increasing the company’s presence in China and they want to sell approximately 200,000 units / year in the country by 2015. In 2010, Volvo’s global retail sales reached 373,525 units and only 30,000 were commercialized in China. In comparison to 2009, they’ve sold 11.2% more cars.
Post tags: Tags: china, Volvo
Even though the Chinese automotive market is very big at the moment, one of the Chinese auto executives has predicted that it will double in size to 40 million units over the next ten years. This prediction was made by Dazong Wang who is the president of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. For this prediction to come to life, it means that China’s annual rate of sales growth will only have to be 50% in comparison to the last ten years.
With these incredible figures, almost half of the worldwide car production will be concentrated in China. However, he said that the Chinese auto market will not follow Japan’s market and become a center of automotive manufacturing. He said that the Chinese automakers will be making most of the cars for the domestic market, not unlike Japan that focuses on global sales.
In the last ten years, coastal cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai had a very powerful growth and now it seems that also the inland cities are seeing a significant boom of an emerging middle-class who wants to buy better developed cars.
Due to the traffic congestions that create serious problems, the Chinese government is already capping the amount of registrations that they are allowing.
Post tags: Tags: auto, boom, china, market
Every major city in the world is facing traffic problems, with millions of cars crowding the cities. And while some cities manage this issue pretty easy, by introducing taxes, restricting traffic or perfecting the public transport system, it seems that the situation in Beijing is pretty dramatic, because the authorities turned to a lottery system to control the number of newly registered cars in the Chinese capital. Why thy may look drastic, apparently no other solution worked especially considering 850,000 new cars were bought last year, turning the total number of registered cars in Beijing to almost 5 million, with 30,000 units being sold in one week, in mid-December. This also made Beijing authorities ban new car sales on December 24, ban which will be lifted on January 26, the date when the first new cars lottery will take place.
According to authorities, a number of 20,000 units will be allowed per month, with registrations being admitted until the 25th of the month and the lottery taking place the next day. There are already more than 100,000 registrations for the lottery, 53,549 of which applied on the first day, on January 1.
This only applies to new cars, because people whose cars are stolen, destroyed or traded will not have to get inline for the lottery and will be able to buy directly a new car. The estimation for 2011 is that beside the 240,000 cars from the lottery, around 160,000 will be purchased outside the lottery system.
Beijing authorities also took some other measures to contain traffic, such as increased parking fees and ban cars not registered in Beijing from driving in the city at rush hours, measure which is aimed at stopping Beijing drivers from getting around the restriction and registering a car in another city.
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Post tags: Tags: beijing, china, traffic, traffic jam
Martin Motors Bubble
The 2010 edition of the Bologna Auto Show will be the host of world debuts for new models from Ferrari, Opel/Vauxhall, Chery Automobile and Great Wall Motor.
As far as Ferrari is concerned, the Italians will officially launch the 458 Challenge, which is the track-only configuration of its beautiful V8 coupe. Opel will bring the facelift of the subcompact hatchback model Corsa and the medium SUV model Antara.
The French automaker Peugeot will bring to Bologna the EX-1 sports car concept that features a powerful 340 hp engine, 4WD, and is an electric roadster that has already broken six world records for vehicle acceleration of an electric automobile.
DR Automobili is an Italian company that is rebadging versions of cars that are manufactured by Chery Automobile in China, and will preview the D3 hatchback compact as well as an electric version of the D1 minicar. The company sold from the start of the year until October 3,649 cars in Italy, which is 94% more in comparison to 2009, according to the data provided by the Italian Transport Ministry.
Great Wall is another Chinese automaker that will bring new models at the Bologna Auto Show. They will present the Steed 5 large pickup, the Voleex subcompact hatchback and a concept for a city car, dubbed Kulla.
Martin Motors will launch the Bubble minicar, which is a Smart ForTwo clone, manufactured in China. Three years ago at the Bologna Auto Show, Daimler AG, the company that owns the rights for Smart cars, took legal actions in order to prevent Martin Motors from launching the Bubble minicar due to its many similarities with the ForTwo model manufactured by Smart. After a rough legal battle, Daimler AG lost which means that Martin Motors is entitled to unveil the Bubble.
The Bubble has a length of 3, 3 m and is a four-seat automobile, manufactured by Shuanghuan, also a Chinese carmaker. The Smart ForTwo clone will have a base sales price of $15,000 (11,400 euros) in Italy. For this money, you get alloy wheels, power windows and air conditioning.
Great Wall Voleex
The Bologna Auto Show will open its doors Saturday and will last until the 12th of the month. Visitors of the show will have the opportunity to road test various electric vehicles from famous automakers like Smart, Renault, Peugeot, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Citroen. The visitors will be able to drive them on an indoor urban circuit that has a size similar to a soccer field.
The show is coming back strongly after 2009, when due to the global financial crisis, many carmakers (including the local Fiat), changed their minds about participating to the event. Last year the show was 4 days shorter and featured only car and motorcycle races, gathering only 460,000 visitors in comparison to 2008 when the number of visitors was 970,000.
According to the managing director of the show organizer GL Events Italia, Giada Michetti – “This year’s show returns to its traditional nine-day calendar and goes on despite the economy not being completely out from the crisis yet. We hope attendance is close to the level seen in 2008.”
Unfortunately this year, the most important Asian brands like Lexus, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Daihatsu and Suzuki plus GM’s Chevrolet will be missing from the auto show. European brands like Saab, Jaguar and Lamborghini will be also skipping the show.
Post tags: Tags: auto-show, bologna, china, great wall, martin motors
China – Possible Future Excess Supply
China is the fastest growing automobile industry and by 2020 it could double the current production capacity. Anything above this level will most likely cause swamping the market with excess supply, according to the CEO of global parts supplier BorgWarner. He estimates that the annual car production in China by 2020 will reach 30 million units. In 2009, for the very first time the Chinese auto market surpassed the North American one, selling 13.6 million cars.
Other forecasters are approximating that by 2020 China will be producing 40 million cars annually, but there is a possibility that this number will not be covered by requests, according to Timothy Manganello, CEO at BorgWarner. If this happens, most likely the Chinese manufacturers will try to sell this surplus to the European market or in Asia or North America. If this situation will occur, it would most likely cause pressure pricing and expose areas of costly excess capacity for the other car manufacturers.
Manganello said that this surplus of cars will create a perfect storm between Europe and North America as China will try to export these cars everywhere they can sell them. “It’s going to create a fairly unique tension within the global auto industry. Even the Chinese (automakers) say if they end up with 40 million units of capacity, they don’t know if they can sell 40 million units inside China.”
According to him, although there are serious risks of producing more than necessary in China, in the near-term future, China will ride on the wave of the growth and see what the future will hold for the manufacturers. There is a possibility that BorgWarner might purchase a company in China in order to expand its powertrain offerings or to make cars in China that will not be available in North America or Europe.
Manganello affirmed that all Chinese carmakers are looking to expand in the local market and at the same time, increase global share. The key factor for the cars manufactured in China is quality and it could dictate if they will or will not have success in other regions of the world. He added that a good way to start earning international reputation would be to introduce cars in Africa or other underdeveloped countries of the world. “That’s probably where you’re going to see them penetrate first. It’s a lot easier, the standards are lower, the government regulations are less strict if any at all.”
The BorgWarner company works very close with the Chinese car manufacturers to help them improve their technology, similar to other United States-based suppliers. Approximately 7% of the revenue comes from China. The company is the leading supplier of turbochargers as well as other transmission and engine parts. The company’s largest clients are Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Corporation and Volkswagen AG.
Post tags: Tags: china, Geely
Porsche AG recently said that in the next three years the company is planning on opening new dealerships in China so that the sales will go up by 50%. For 2010, Porsche hopes to sell about 10,000 cars, 10% more than in 2009 and is expecting 15,000 car sales by 2013, according to Helmut Broeker who is the chief of Porsche China.
Back in June, Porsche opened in Sanghai its first company-owned sales unit and according to Broeker, this inauguration led to “a great deal of trust in the brand”. At the beginning of this month, the company opened in Taiyuan a new dealership. The location is a massive coal district, located in the northern province of Shanxi. Porsche’s image in China is well known thanks to the 911 models.
However, in comparison to customers from other countries, the regular Porsche buyer in China does not acquire a sports car like the 911 as he prefers to get the company’s first sport utility vehicle, the Cayenne. Why? – Because the quality of the roads in China is not very good in comparison to European roads for example. According to Broeker, 60% of the cars sold in China are SUVs and at the moment the request for this model exceeds the capabilities of Porsche to deliver the cars.
The most popular Cayenne in China is a model that is not even available in its native country Germany. We are talking about a 3.0-liter turbocharged TFSI power unit. The powertrain of this type of Cayenne is assembled in Hungary at the Gyor unit. This is a problem for Porsche because at this plant, the company also manufactures the 6-cylinder engines that power the Q7, A6, A7 and the A8 limousine. Because the factory has a limited production, the German manufacturer cannot supply the needed engines for the Chinese cars. For this reason customers in China have to wait about nine months until they can drive their Cayenne.
Usually 9 months is enough to make a customer from China change his mind and try looking for something else, but this is not the situation with the Cayenne customer, because this is the most affordable method to drive a Porsche SUV. The 3.6-liter Cayenne is significantly less expensive than the V8 engine because in China, the Government has a 44% consumption tax for cars that have engine with a 3.0 (max) capacity. Above this figure, clients have to pay a 110% tax – this is the situation for the V8 engine that powers the Cayenne, which is why people are waiting almost an entire year for the 3.6-liter power unit.
Post tags: Tags: 911, cayenne, china, Porsche
It seems that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are attempting to expand their sales in the China which is at this moment, the largest automotive market in the world and it seems that it will remain the same for the following years.
Mitsubishi has set up its first 50/50 joint venture in the Middle Kingdom and is expecting to double the capacity there. Honda is also planning on doubling the production at the Wuhan factory where in the near future it will start producing hybrid cars.
These attempts to conquer the Chinese market come as a direct response to General Motors and Volkswagen AG, as these companies have already a strong activity in China. The most important international automakers that hold the first places for most cars sold to the Chinese market are VW, GM, Hyundai, Toyota and Renault-Nissan.
From all of the Japanese car manufacturers, Mitsubishi is the last one that formed a 50-50 joint venture in China. The Fuji Heavy Industries, who is a manufacturer of Subaru cars, also has no production there, but its plans are to sign a partnership until the end of the year.
Honda is currently constructing a secondary assembly plant for the Dongfeng Honda Automobile Corporation, one of the brand’s 50/50 joint ventures. Although the initial capacity of this new assembly plant was set at 60,000 units per year, Honda recently stated that they have increased the number to 100,000 cars.
By 2013, the capacity of Honda’s factory in Wuhan will reach 120,000 units per year and in the upcoming years; it will be able to make 240,000 cars annually. The Dongfeng Honda plant has at the moment an annual capacity of 240,000 automobiles.
The Japanese newspaper Nikkei noted that the new plant will be making the Civic subcompact model and that by early 2012, Honda will start manufacturing hybrids in China. Seiji Kuraishi who is Honda’s boss in China, confirmed that the Japanese automaker will start making hybrids in China in the near future, but did not shared other details regarding this topic. The Nikkei newspaper also noted that the Fit and Civic hybrids are two of Honda’s options for the Chinese factories.
Honda’s sales in China reached 475, 695 cars this year until September, which is a 16% increase in comparison to the similar period of last year. However, only 63 hybrids were sold in the first 9 months of 2010.
Honda is hoping that by 2013, their manufacturing capacity in China will reach 890,000 units per year, including the 480,000 cars at the Ghuangzhou Honda joint venture as well as at the 50,000 units manufactured at Honda Automobile China, which is a local venture that makes cars for export.
Mitsubishi will be buying a 50% stake at the GAC Changfeng Motor Corporation where at the moment it has only 14.6% shares. GAC Changfeng Motor can make 80,000 cars per year. The models being built there are the Mitsubishi Pajero SUV and the Changfeng-badged SUVs. Within the next five years, Mitsubishi wants to start making 250,000 cars at the factory. In July 2012, the Japanese automaker will start producing a new vehicle there. Mitsubishi also owns 25% of Fujian Motor Co., a venture that has a 150,000 annual capacity which produces the Mitsubishi Lancer and Galant sedans.
Post tags: Tags: china, civic, galant, Honda, Mitsubishi
