Successful Magotan and Golf sales help FAW-VW set new sales record

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 1) -FAW-Volkswagen reported January sales of 72,567 vehicles, setting a new monthly sales record for the Jilin-based joint venture, theBeijing Morning Postreported today.

Among its lineup, FAW-VW's Magotan, Chinese version of the PQ46 Passat, managed to get a sales result of 8,202 units. The figures mark a huge jump for the car, which has been on the domestic market for three years. Meanwhile, the Golf sold 6,301, near doubling its sales from last year. It's clear that FAW-VW is putting a lot of effort behind the award-nominated compact, which comes in new turbocharged 1.4L TSI mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or naturally aspirated 1.6L mated to 7-speed DSG dual clutch configurations, much to the praise of Golf fans throughout the country.

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Great Wall sold 160000 Haval SUVs in January

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 25) -Great Wall Motor's Haval series of SUVs, China's largest selling SUV brand last year, attained sales of 160,000 units this January,Autoweeklyreported today.

The sales results solidify Great Wall's place as top-selling SUV maker for eight years straight, and represent a 53% increase in sales from January of last year. The Haval SUV series' rapid growth last year was the fastest among its segment. Great Wall hopes to further expand on that success in 2011, aiming for greater market share as it strives to maintain its position as leading SUV seller for nine years running.

Great Wall is planning to unveil more models for the Chinese market this year, including the new mid-upper class Haval H6 SUV (pictured below), which is expected to make its debut during April's Auto Shanghai 2011, and Haval M3 small SUV.

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Hualing Automobile to suspend trading

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 25) -Heavy-duty truck manufacturer Hualing Automobile put out an announcement saying that it will halt trading of stock until the national the Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) completes examination of the company, ifeng.com reported today. The CSRC will hold a meeting regarding the company's future on February 28.

Hualing Automobile is based in Anhui province and has embarked on several technology partnerships with Japanese automobile giant Mitsubishi.

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Hualing to halt trading

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 25) -Heavy-duty truck manufacturer Hualing Automobile put out an announcement saying that it will halt trading of stock until the national the Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) completes examination of the company, ifeng.com reported today. The CSRC will hold a meeting regarding the company's future on February 28.

Hualing Automobile is based in Anhui province and has embarked on several technology partnerships with Japanese automobile giant Mitsubishi.

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Rolls-Royce aims to boost car sales at least 10% this year on China demand

Bloomberg News -Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's Rolls-Royce Motor Cars aims to increase sales at least 10 percent this year as the maker of luxury vehicles boosts deliveries in China and seeks to attract younger buyers.

"We will see for China this year quite strong growth," the division's Chief Executive Officer Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg Television. Young Asian entrepreneurs will help the Goodwood, England-based company increase sales by"at least a two-digit figure" in percentage terms, he said.

The carmaker, which competes with Daimler AG's Maybach and Volkswagen AG's Bentley divisions, almost tripled sales to a record last year. Rolls Royce said full-year sales in 2010 rose to 2,711 cars, led by growth in Asia, the U.S. and the Middle East. The manufacturer's previous sales record was set in 2008, when it delivered 1,212 vehicles.

BMW rose 0.5 percent to 60.60 euros as of 10:13 a.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has gained 3 percent this year after climbing 85 percent in 2010.

China will form the carmaker's biggest market as early as 2014, with its Ghost sedan driving demand, Mueller-Oetvoes said. The $245,000 Ghost is Rolls-Royce's second product line after the Phantom, which starts at $380,000.

China Growth

"It's difficult to overstate the importance of the Chinese market to the premium car makers," Tim Urquhart, a senior analyst at industry consultant IHS Automotive in London, said in an e-mail."China will provide the vast majority of volume growth for the premiums for the next decade at least."

Urquhart said he expects Rolls-Royce sales in China to increase by a third to 287 cars this year.

The 5.4-meter (17 feet 9 inches) Ghost has spurred growth for the exclusive marque after the financial crisis depressed sales 17 percent in 2009. The U.S. remained the biggest market for Rolls-Royce last year, ahead of China and the U.K.

India, where the marque sold about 85 cars last year, would also be another"incredible" growth market for Rolls-Royce, Mueller-Oetvoes said in the interview from Singapore."We'll definitely see more cars to come this year," he said.

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Thailand: Toyota opposes tax revamp

Bangkok Post -Toyota, Thailand's biggest automaker, reiterated yesterday it strongly opposed revamping the excise tax structure on the one-ton pickup truck and its variants.

"Toyota along with Isuzu and Mitsubishi disagrees with the tax restructuring that will add production costs to pickups and its variants, as these autos are performing well at the moment in both domestic and overseas markets," said Toyota Motor Thailand president Kyoichi Tanada.

Isuzu, according to an industry source, would suffer most from the tax revamp since the Japanese automaker has only the D-max pickup truck and Mu-7 passenger pickup vehicle (PPV) in its portfolio.

Reports are that the new automobile excise tax structure under consideration by authorities would raise the tax rates on pickup trucks and PPVs. Automakers are concerned higher costs could slow the local market and exports.

The current excise tax on pickups is only 3%, but 20% for PPVs.

Pickups have been the cornerstone of Thailand's steady automotive export development for three decades.

Mr Tanada said Thailand would lose its competitive edge to other countries in the region, as Toyota and others can move to countries with lower costs.

Toyota Motor Thailand senior vice-president Wichien Emprasertsuk said any tax hikes on pickup trucks and its variants were against the objective of forming an international innovative multi-purpose vehicle (IMV) programme, in which Toyota invested 30 million baht in Thailand to design and produce the IMV products.

Meanwhile, Toyota is looking for better results from its luxury line, with record sales of 650 units forecast for the Lexus in Thailand this year. Of the total, 330 are expected to be the Lexus CT 200h, the world's first luxury hybrid hatchback, introduced yesterday.

The hatchback has a four-cylinder 1.8-litre gasoline engine with electronic fuel injection in addition to electric motors from the Lexus hybrid drive system to offer the performance of a 2.0-litre engine while producing the lowest carbon dioxide levels in its class.

Four versions of the CT 200h are available ranging from 2.19 million to 2.69 million baht.

Mr Tanada said Lexus sales locally had been slow due to 80% import duties.

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Beijing looks into higher taxi fares

CNTV -China has raised gasoline and diesel prices by 350 yuan per ton, in a bid to reflect rising international crude-oil prices. It's also a move that could shake the country's taxi industry, as it pushes up operating costs.

So Beijing's transportation department is working with the municipal Development and Reform Commission to research the feasibility of a taxi fare adjustment.

But not to worry yet about more expensive fares if you live here in the capital. It could take half a year for them to come up with the adjustment plan and then implement it.

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Brilliance to turn losses into gains in 2011

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 21) -Brilliance China, Liaoning-based own brand and BMW's joint venture partner, plans to turn around its financial losses this year,Economic Observer Newsreported today. The statement appeared in the manufacturer's 2010 yearly performance report released late last week.

According to the report, Brilliance believed that the primary factors behind its losses last year was due to increased services in its BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture (of which Brilliance controls 50 percent stock) and delays in selling its underperforming Zhonghua sedan brand to parent company Brilliance Automotive Holdings Group.

Independent statistics show 2010 Chinese sales of BMWs reach 169,000 vehicles, an increase of 87% from 2009. Among its lineup the 5 Series proved to be most worthy of attention, with sales increasing from 43,700 in 2009 to over 110,000. Sales of domestically-produced BMWs also doubled, with total volume far exceeding that of imported models. Having spent a considerable amount of energy in increasing services, Brilliance looks to reap greater rewards from increased BMW sales this year.

 

In other news, the manufacturer's Jinbei brand, producer of vans and other large vehicles, reported 2010 sales of 285,900 units, an increase of 55% from the previous year.

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Guangzhou public transit embraces propane

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 18) -In a bid to combat rising fuel prices, Guangzhou has completed installation of close to 40 propane (LPG) fueling stations, theNanfang Dailyreported today. The stations will be used primarily for the city's buses and taxis, a decision which has attracted attention across the industry. Guangzhou, which has proclaimed itself to 'possess more public transportation vehicles running on LPG than any other city in the world,' is reported to have more than 24,000 propane-powered transit vehicles in operation, constituting over 95% of the city's public transport fleet.

Vigorous testing has shown Guangzhou's propane vehicles to have near-zero carbon emissions, with a smoke concentration value nearly 78% less than petroleum-based vehicles."Propane used in the majority of Guangzhou's taxis and public buses costs about 60% of the current market fuel price," a source within the Guangzhou Gas Industry said.

Imported and domestically produced propane costs approximately 7,000 yuan ($1,064.82) per ton, while 93 grade petroleum fuel has a per-ton price of about 8,100 yuan ($1,232.15). Analysts estimate that because of the price differences between propane and regular petroleum of 4.50 yuan ($0.685) and 7.21 yuan ($1.01) per liter respectively, Guangzhou's propane-powered taxis are about 100 yuan ($15.21) cheaper per day to run than their petrol-powered brethren.

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FAW Xiali to introduce Vios-based electric car

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 17) -Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile, a subsidiary of FAW Group Corporation specializing in compact vehicles, announced that it will invest 350 million yuan ($53.2m) to promote development of a small and affordable pure electric car, bitauto.com reported today. The proposed car will reportedly be built on the Toyota Vios platform (pictured above).

According to the manufacturer's publicly released strategy, Xiali will begin building the factory that will produce the new car this March. The factory will also be responsible for the production of key vehicle parts, including battery systems and engines. However, Xiali has yet to announce which battery supplier it will cooperate with. The factory is predicted to be completed by March 2012, with production beginning soon after.

Research and development of new energy vehicles, such as the proposed Xiali pure electric sedan, is expected to be a major new direction for FAW Group in the upcoming five years, with the company also planning to focus resources on production of hybrid buses, as well as mid-level and high-end sedans.

In other news, FAW's B50 pure electric sedan (pictured below) is about to begin production. It is expected to enter full production sometime this year.

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Mexico auto exports gobbling up more US market share

Dow Jones Newswires (Mexico City) -Mexico continued to flex its muscles as an automobile export platform in January, with sales abroad growing by double-digits compared with the year-earlier month in key markets such as the U.S., the Mexican Automobile Industry Association, or AMIA, said Wednesday.

Exports also rose to Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, although the non-American markets remained relatively small, AMIA said in its monthly breakdown on the state of the local auto industry.

Overall production of cars and light trucks rose 21% in January to 199,310 vehicles, while exports expanded by 45% to 165,046 units. Domestic sales, meanwhile, grew at a slower pace in January, rising 7.3% to 68,766 autos, AMIA said.

Light vehicle exports to the U.S. rose 36% last month compared with January 2010 to 116,429 units, representing a 14.2% overall market share among American consumers, AMIA numbers showed.

For full-year 2010, Mexican-made vehicles had a market share in the U.S. of 11%, which fueled Mexico's record production of 2.26 million units. Of those, nearly 1.28 million went to the U.S.

In other markets last month, Mexico auto exports to Canada rose by 14.4% to 13,513 vehicles, sales to other Latin American countries more than tripled to 19,190 units, and exports to Europe increased by 20% to 9,859 autos.

Mexico's auto export dynamic is not just related to the global economic recovery, but rather to capturing greater market share in the U.S. and elsewhere. For example, Mexico's overall vehicle exports last month were nearly 40% higher than in January 2008 before the crisis began.

AMIA's president, Eduardo Solis, cautioned that Mexico's big leap in U.S. market share may not be sustainable, since it comes partly on the introduction of two models not available in January 2010--the new versions of the Volkswagen Jetta and the Ford Fiesta--as well a big jump in exports of the Ford Fusion.

"We have a number that historically we've never had before," Solis said at a news conference."Fourteen of every 100 vehicles sold in the U.S. are Mexican-made in the month of January."Obviously, we can't say that it marks a trend, that it's going to continue like that, but it is very interesting that in our principal market we are growing in such a dynamic way."

Overall exports of cars, car parts, and other automotive components for the latest period available--January to November of last year--reached $45.63 billion, compared with imports of automotive goods worth $21.63 billion in the same period, Solis said. Mexico's auto-industry trade balance, he added, was now on par with oil as a source of foreign currency.

"We have said on various occasions that this surplus is much greater than foreign currency from tourism, from remittances {sent home by workers abroad}, and finally up to November with a $23.996 billion net surplus, it is greater than the international commerce that we have from petroleum," Solis said.

Mexico prides itself on its vast oil wealth, but crude oil production has been slipping since 2004, and gasoline imports have been surging in recent years due to a lack of refinery capacity.

State-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said it had an energy-trade surplus of $17.88 billion in the first 11 months of last year and $19.55 billion for full-year 2010.

On relatively flat domestic car sales, Solis complained that imported used cars from the U.S., which he called"junkers," were distorting the Mexican used-car market, making it more difficult for Mexicans to sell their used cars in order to buy new ones.

Guillermo Rosales, head of government relations for the Mexican Association of Auto Distributors, said an estimated 430,000 used cars entered Mexico from the U.S. That compares with new car sales last year of 820,406 vehicles.

Although the cars enter legally, Mexican auto industry officials would like to see stricter requirements on safety conditions and emissions standards.

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Shanghai installs GPS on buses to prevent speeding

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 16) -Cities across the country are clamping down on unauthorized and illegal use of government and public vehicles. Keeping in pace with the changes, Shanghai Bashi Industrial Group, in charge of the city's public bus system, revealed yesterday that they would be expanding installation of GPS systems on their buses in a bid to keep speeding down, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The systems, which have been undergoing testing on two of the city's bus lines, will be expanded to 570 vehicles operating on 24 lines, covering routes on the outskirts of Shanghai to the city center. Shanghai is also currently in the process of completing a mass public vehicle data-collection program. When completed, the program promises to offer real-time logistical information for over 15,000 vehicles.

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Buffett-backed BYD's January vehicle sales fall

Reuters (Hong Kong) -Chinese carmaker BYD Co Ltd , backed by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, reported a 15 percent drop in January auto sales, partly due to production constraints, which could put further pressure on its stock.

The battery and carmaker sold 52,054 vehicles in January at the wholesale level, down from 61,215 units in the same month last year, the company said in an email to Reuters.

"The number certainly was unsatisfactory and continued to underperform its competitors," said Galant Ng, an analyst at Haitong International Research.

Ng said he would review and possibly cut his sales forecast of 700,000 units for the company this year after the January sales figure confirmed the weak sales trend had extended from the second half of 2010.

BYD missed its revised sales target of 600,000 units and sold 519,805 vehicle in 2010 as its parts production and dealer network development could not match with the company's fast expansion last year.

The weak sales may put pressure on the company's stock which ended down 3.8 percent on Tuesday at HK$34.25, the lowest in 19 months.

Analysts said growth of China's auto market, the largest in the world, was expected to slow this year after sales increased more than 30 percent in 2010. Rising fuel prices, the removal of government subsidies and tighter rules on new car registrations would temper demand.

Rival Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd sold 45,634 vehicles in January, up 4 percent from a year ago but down about 18.7 percent from December. Geely shares fell as much as 4 percent on Tuesday before closing down 0.8 percent at HK$3.76.

Both BYD and Geely underperformed SAIC Motor Corp Ltd , the largest car maker in China, which has sold 35 percent more vehicles in January from a year ago.

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Fiat to unveil Lancia versions of Chryslers in Geneva

 

The Detroit News -A number of Chrysler Group LLC vehicles, rebadged as Lancias, will make their world debut at the Geneva auto show next month.

Chrysler's Italian partner Fiat SpA will show versions of the Chrysler 200 and 300, as well as the Town& Country minivan. But they will be sold in Europe as the Lancia Flavia midsize sedan and convertible, the Lancia Thema fullsize sedan, and the Grand Voyager minivan, respectively.

A subcompact Ypsilon hatchback and the Delta compact car will round out the Lancia display in GenevaShortly after the two automakers formed a partnership in 2009, Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of both companies, decided to meld future Chrysler and Lancia brand products. They will be sold under the Chrysler winged badge in North America but under the Lancia brand in most of Europe.

The Chrysler and Lancia brands both strive to compete with near-luxury vehicles, and their styling is remarkably similar, making the melding of the two going forward relatively easy for engineers and designers on both sides of the ocean. The goal is economies of scale for savings in developing and manufacturing the vehicles while filling out the portfolios of both brands and expanding their markets by tapping each other's distribution networks.

The Thema sedan will go on sale in Europe in October with a choice of Chrysler's new Pentastar 3.6-liter engine with an 8-speed automatic transmission or a 3-liter V-6 turbodiesel from Italy's VM Motori that will come with a 5-speed automatic. European buyers generally prefer diesels due to high gasoline prices.

The Lancia brand has been without a flagship sedan since the poor-selling Thesis sedan was discontinued in 2009 after seven years on the market.

Moving down a size, the Flavia concept shows what could be done with the Chrysler 200 sedan and convertible.

Fiat could start production of the Flavia for European markets within six months of getting approval to offer the car in Europe.

The Chrysler 200 mid-cycle upgrade that the Flavia would be based on is being replaced by an all-new vehicle in 2013.

For European consumers, Fiat will use the Geneva show to unveil the new Ypsilon subcompact car that will grow from a three-door hatchback to a five-door. The Chrysler brand is to get a subcompact for North America in 2013.

And the new Lancia Delta compact car, which goes on sale next month, will also be on display. Chrysler is to get a Fiat-engineered compact sedan early next year.

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Dongfeng Peugeot to recall nearly 38000 307 and 408 sedans

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 14) -The Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Company released a nation-wide recall last week, theNDDailyreported. According to the country's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the Sino-French joint venture is recalling a total of nearly 38,000 Dongfeng Peugeot cars on the basis of safety defects.

The recall is targeted towards 11,116 Dongfeng Peugeot branded 307s manufactured between October 11 and December 2 of last year, as well as 26,583 Dongfeng Peugeot 408s (2.0L version) made from November 14, 2009 to November 16 last year. The 307s are being recalled because of problems with the driver's side airbag which may prevent it from being normally deployed, while the 408 reportedly has a problem with the position of cables in the battery mounting. The cars are being recalled in accordance to the AQSIQ's Provisions on the Administration of Recall of Defective Auto Products legislation.

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Thailand: Auto sales to rise 7.4% to another record, Toyota predicts

The Nation -Toyota expects the auto market to race ahead by 7.4 per cent to a new sales record of 860,000 units this year.

"According to the sales volume reported earlier, it implies that the improving economic situation will lead to higher consumer confidence, and this directly benefits the automobile market," Kyoichi Tanada, president of Toyota Motor Thailand, the country's largest carmaker, said yesterday.

Sales of new passenger cars are expected to climb 11.1 per cent to 385,200 units, while commercial-vehicle sales rise 4.6 per cent to 474,800 units, of which 375,000, up 7.9 per cent, will be pickups.

Last year the auto market surged 45.8 per cent to an unprecedented 800,357 units, with the largest gain in passenger cars, rising by 50.7 per cent thanks to the increased popularity of small and fuel-efficient city cars. Pickup trucks jumped 42.3 per cent.
The previous sales record was set in 2005 when sales reached 703,432 units.

"This increase resulted from the continuous growth of the overall economy and the inflow of capital, which helped boost the auto-leasing industry. Growth also came from the rising demand in the passenger-car market and the launch of many new models," Tanada told Toyota's annual press conference.

Toyota was the best-selling brand with a record 326,007 units, comprising 141,733 passenger cars and 164,794 pickup trucks, he said. The company has dominated the auto market with triple crowns in the passenger-car, commercial and pickup-truck markets for the sixth straight year.

Several factors will enable growth in 2011, he said.

Toyota plans to sell 360,000 vehicles in the domestic market this year, 10.4 per cent more than in 2010, and hopes to achieve a 41.9-per-cent market share.

"We plan to sell 162,000 passenger cars, up 14.2 per cent, and 198,000 commercial vehicles, up 7.4 per cent, including 158,000 pickups, up 9.6 per cent," he said.

"For the export market, we plan to export about 364,000 CBU {completely built-up} vehicles worth Bt139 billion, and Bt59 billion worth of OEM {original equipment manufacturer} parts. Combined, our total export value for 2011 will be Bt198.9 billion, up 5 per cent from 2010," he said.

Toyota plans to boost production capacity to match domestic and export demand. The company has said it will invest Bt8 billion over several years to expand its Ban Pho plant in Chachoengsao province from 140,000 units per year to 220,000 units per year. The project will start in September.

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Changan plans to sell 2.51m vehicles this year

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 12) -The Changan Automobile Group aims to sell 2.51 million vehicles this year, the automaker said in its recently released 2011 sales strategy. Changan will focus on further own brand development, hoping to sell 1.9 million self branded vehicles, equivalent to 75.7% of its overall sales goal.

 

Selling more cars than Daimler

2010 saw the Chongqing-based auto manufacturer selling over 2.37 million vehicles, among which 1.76 million, or 74.2%, carried the Changan badge. This proportion of own brand sales to total brands sales is exceptionally high among Chinese manufacturers.

According to total car and LCV (light commercial vehicle) sales statistics released by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) last year, Changan Automobile Group's own brand volume is the highest in the country, and ranks number 13 worldwide. In addition, the figures show the automaker selling more cars, nearly 500,000 more, then the number 12 company Daimler AG.

 

1m sedans in five years

What the OICA charts don't show, however, is that of the 1.76 million Changan branded cars sold last year, only .21 million were sedans. The overwhelming majority of the automaker's business was in compacts, taking up about 90% of its total sales. In response to this, Changan is looking to increase sedan sales to 22% of its total sales volume by 2015. In other words, the automaker hopes for sedan sales to reach one million in five years, more than quadrupling its 2010 sales volume.

 

Lows and highs

Another sticking point for Changan, the Hafei and Changhe brands' 2010 performance left a lot to be desired, with total yearly sales of 21,600 and 1,335 vehicles respectively. Looking forward to the new year, Kuang Jinwen, Changan Automobile's general manager, said the company will unveil three new models to complement its hot selling Yuexiang, Ben Ben Mini (pictured), and the newly unveiled CX series. We are all looking forward to see what Changan has in store for us this year.

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Chinese BMW sales show a 70% increase in January

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 11) -BMW AG officially released its Chinese sales figures for January, Gasgoo.com (China) reported today. A total of 21,641 BMWs and Minis were sold in the Greater China region (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) last month, 20,308 of which were mainland sales. The sales figures represented an increase of 70.4% from BMW's January 2010 sales.

Of the 19,100 BMWs sold last month, the automaker's brand new 5 Series proved to be the most popular. A total of 6,300 5 series were sold in January alone, almost double the amount from last year.

Equally deserving of attention is the German automaker's Mini brand, with 1,208 Mini-branded vehicles having been sold in the month, 120% more then the number sold last year. With the highly anticipated Mini Countryman crossover SUV (pictured below) to make its Chinese debut in February, all eyes will be focused on the brand.

BMW's results at the start of the year are impressive, and as the company continues to import more vehicles and further develop localization, its prospects for the future look bright.

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Designated driver services in China profit from drunk driving regulations

Xinhua (Beijing) -The first Spring Festival after China revised regulations on drunk driving has stimulated the market for designated driver services. According to the law, entitled" Regulations on the Application for and Use of the Motorized Vehicle Driving Licenses", which was implemented April 1, 2010, drunk driving may result in the suspension of a driver's license.

Hundreds of companies, which offer designated driver services, appeared in big Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Zhengzhou in 2010.However, the 24-hour online reservation services can hardly meet the demand during the Spring Festival, which is also called the Lunar New Year holiday.

In Beijing, designated driver services charge by the mile, similar to a taxi. The services may also charge a rate depending on whether the location is within or outside the city.

According to 8 Year, a Beijing-based auto club, clients are mainly public servants, company managers and night owl clubbers. While some dodged drunk-driving punishment thanks to designated driver services, others argued that the fledging sector may cause some problems and needs to be regulated.

What if clients lose their belongings in their cars? What if the designated driver escapes when traffic accidents happen? Where can clients file a complaint?

Qiang Lei, vice President of the Beijing Business Management College, said that clients of"designated driver service" are often groggy drunk, so the service agreement they sign may be the focus of controversy.

Miao Yueru, a member of the Beijing Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, suggested last year that regulations should be worked out for the administration of the sector. He added that the city's Administration Department for Industry and Commerce should allow designated driver services to register. Miao also proposed that traffic authorities should set up special departments to supervise such companies.

Shanghai began to oversee the registration applications of these companies in 2009, and Chengdu, the capital of the southwest China province of Sichuan, issued an announcement about registration and administration of the sector in late 2010.

Beijing had registered 4.7 million motor vehicles by the end of 2010, which roughly requires 3,000 designated drivers each day.

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VW to create 40000 jobs by 2018: report

The China Post (Berlin) -Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, plans to boost its workforce from 250,000 to 290,000 by 2018, with most of the new jobs to be created in China, the German auto weekly Woche reported Sunday. 

Citing internal and confidential documents, the weekly said that"the number of VW employees will rise from 250,000 to 290,000 by 2018," including 35,000 new posts in China.

Most of the new jobs— 21,000 posts— will be created in the production sector, including 400 for managers and 5,000 for engineers.

Some 4,700 new jobs will open up in the commercial and customer service divisions.

The new posts will come on top of those to be created to replace the 60,000 VW employees due to retire by 2018, Woche said.

Last month, a report said VW was considering launching a new car brand specifically designed for the booming Chinese market.

"The Chinese government has been promoting Chinese brands for some time now. In this context, joint ventures with foreign companies— such as FAW Volkswagen or SAIC Volkswagen for us— are encouraged to make a local marquee," an official with unit Volkswagen China said in a Handelsblatt report.

VW is now in talks with its Chinese partners, looking at the market for models below 8,000 euros (US$11,000), the report said, adding that the company's supervisory board was expected to approve the project.

VW sales in China jumped nearly 36 percent over a one-year period.

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BMW, Peugeot agree to form joint venture for developing hybrid technology

Bloomberg News -Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, and PSA Peugeot Citroen are setting up a joint venture to develop and produce hybrid- power components and software in an effort to cut supply costs.

The 50-50 partnership, to be named BMW Peugeot Citroen Electrification, will begin operating in the second quarter and provide parts for both manufacturers’ vehicles starting in 2014, the companies said today in a joint statement. The project will be run by Wolfgang Guellich, BMW’s head of purchasing strategy, and Jean Leflour, chief of customer satisfaction at Peugeot.

“This cooperative venture will enable us to achieve significant economies of scale in the field of electrification,” BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said in the statement.“It also represents an important step on the road to sustainable mobility.”

BMW, which has its headquarters in Munich, has cooperated since 2006 on engines with Paris-based Peugeot, Europe’s second- biggest carmaker. In February 2010, the manufacturers said they would develop 4-cylinder gasoline engines that conform with the latest European Union environmental rules. The venture announced today follows a memorandum of understanding on hybrid-power technology development signed in October.

BMW Peugeot Citroen Electrification will involve suppliers in the development process and may sell products to other manufacturers, the carmakers said.

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Dongfeng's partner Yueda expects massive increase in 2010 profits

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai January 28) -The Jiangsu Yueda Investment Co., a co-partner of the Dongfeng Yueda Kia Automobiles joint venture, estimated a 120% increase in its 2010 net profit. The company made 324 million yuan ($49.3m) the previous year, with a per-stock value of 0.59 yuan ($0.09).

The company said it primarily owes the impressive rise in its profits to the over 330,000 vehicles sold last year by Dongfeng Yueda Kia, of which Yueda owns a 25% share. The company's expressway and coal mine enterprises also played a part in helping its profits increase.

An analyst from Ping An Securities said that Yueda, being an comprehensive company whose business ranges from automobile, expressways, coal mines, tractors and textiles, gained a lot from its automobile sales, which have been increasing dramatically from 2008 and have since become the company's primary source of income. The company's expressway enterprise also provides a steady flow of funds for the company, while its other businesses are either very small or making losses. Ping An believes that as its automobile industry expands, and expressway and coal mine businesses become more stable, Yueda will maintain strong growth in the new year.

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BYD founder offers details on dealer-friendly plans

The Wall Street Journal -Chinese battery and auto producer BYD Co. suffered a wave of dealer defections to rival brands last year, in part because of a requirement that dealerships take on what some owners and managers described as an excessive stock of cars on their sales lots. No longer, says the company's founder.

As part of the Shenzhen-based company's effort to bounce back from a lousy 2010, BYD Chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu said in a recent interview that the company would part with high-stock requirements and try to do a better job of forecasting demand in the Chinese marketplace so that its dealers would be better-positioned to make money.

One defector was a former BYD store in Beijing managed by Pu Xiaoqiang, which switched to another home-grown Chinese brand last year. Mr. Pu said BYD regularly demanded his store carry stock roughly six times his monthly selling rate, meaning he was forced to keep around 400 cars at the store even though the store typically sold only around 70 cars a month."The only thing we could do was to try everything to sell those cars, so we ended up giving huge discounts to customers, but that wasn't profitable at all," Mr. Pu said.

Mindful of the pressure BYD was putting on dealers across China, Mr. Wang said he was gutting the policy:"Our objective now is to ask dealers to carry stock that is twice the monthly selling rate."

In that case, Mr. Pu's store would have had to carry only 140 cars a month as inventory– a level that would likely ease pressure on dealers like his to offer inventory-clearing discounts.

Prior to the financial crisis, U.S. car dealers considered it relatively healthy to carry two months' worth of inventory on their sales lots.

BYD is part-owned by Mid American Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Last year, BYD set out to nearly double sales in China to 800,000 cars, compared with the 448,000 it sold in 2009. Sales growth began slowing in June, and in September, the company slashed its sales forecast for 2010 by 25%. In the end, BYD fell short of meeting even the more modest goal, tallying sales of only 519,806 vehicles, a disappointing 16% increase from a year earlier when China's overall vehicle market grew more than 30%.

Because of the dealer inventory reduction and other changes to its strategy, BYD is forecasting even less sales growth this year. The company says it sees its sales growing only around 10% to roughly 550,000 vehicles in 2011, more or less on par with the 10% to 15% growth analysts predict for the China car market as a whole.

To get the company back on track, BYD also plans to slow the roll-out of new cars and spend more time on quality and styling, according to Mr. Wang.

The company also aims to slash the number of dealers, which totaled about 1,000 at the end of last year, by 5% to weed out inexperienced stores– a move it hopes will also improve per-store revenue and profit.

All of these changes, Mr. Wang said, are part of an effort to stabilize BYD's auto operations, which in turn will allow it to focus on profitability and"quality of sales" rather than"obsessing over market share."

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GM plans rival to Alto with Chinese partner

The Times of India (New Dehli) -General Motors, in partnership with its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), is gearing up for the"big fight" in India as it is looking at launching a rival to the Maruti Alto, India's largest-selling car that has average monthly volumes of around 30,000 units.

GM international operations president Tim Lee said the company was considering a variety of new products for the Indian market, which could include a rival to the Alto."We are looking at every opportunity. While we are looking at every segment of the market, we understand that we do not have a product in the (Maruti) Alto range. The Alto is a credible product and we could be looking at that segment," Lee told TOI.

The new car would thus be priced under Spark, which is currently GM's entry-level car model for India.

With this aim at the Alto, GM joins other companies like Hyundai, Honda and Tata, all of whom are developing products aimed at the segment where Maruti's blockbuster product operates. Lee said SAIC-one of the top state-owned Chinese automakers and GM's JV partner for the emerging markets -would play a key role in the development of any low-cost car.

Asked whether the two would develop an all-new low-cost car, he said,"From an overall profitability stand point, developing a brand new car would be costly. Thus we would look at all products, from both SAIC and GM stable." GM, which has been in India for the last 14 years, has not been able to capture a sizeable chunk of the market and has a poor 4.6% market share. Lee, who was here to introduce the company's first locally-produced engine series called"Smartech", said GM had earlier not focused enough on the Indian market, though the situation has changed now."India is a key market for General Motors now. We do not intend to repeat past mistakes, but rather look forward to have an enhanced presence here."

GM sold 110,804 vehicles in 2010 (up from 69,579 in 2009) and plans to introduce six new vehicles in the next two years."Four of these will be passenger vehicles, while two will be light commercial vehicles," Lee said.

SAIC and GM run a series of successful JVs in China and had in December 2009 formed an all-new 50:50 JV in Hong Kong to support expansion into emerging markets. The new JV had also got charge of GM India, that till then was a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM (US).

Lee said that SAIC would play a"major role" in the development and launch of new products in India, including light commercial vehicles and cars."The frugal element (in design and production of car) is added by SAIC, while GM helps with its branding, distribution set-up and existing products."

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Fiat returns to profit

AFP (Milan) -Italian industrial giant Fiat said Thursday that it returned to profit in 2010, beating analyst forecasts as it enjoyed strong sales of lorries and tractors, with Brazil performing especially well.

The company, recently restructured into separate auto and industrial operations, also confirmed its guidance through to 2014 for the two new entities.

Fiat said the former, single company had a net profit of 600 million euros ($820 million) last year, reversing a loss of 849 million euros in 2009 and beating analyst forecasts for earnings of 380 million euros.

Sales were up 12.3 percent to 56.26 billion euros despite a 3.2 percent fall in vehicles sold at 2.08 million.

For the fourth quarter alone, it posted a net profit of 318 million euros compared with the year-earlier loss of 283 million euros.

As of January 1, Fiat split into two companies -- its traditional auto business based on its Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands; and Fiat Industrial formed from CNH, its agricultural and construction equipment unit and Iveco, the commercial trucks branch.

The two companies will report their results separately in due course.

The Fiat Industrial part of the business had sales of some 21 billion euros last year, up 18 percent, while Fiat Auto generated more than 35 billion euros, up 9.8 percent.

Fiat head Sergio Marchionne, who also runs US auto giant Chrysler, told analysts that he was not looking for any new alliances but he remained open to any opportunities.

He highlighted a"very good performance" in Brazil, Fiat's top market and which offset a more mixed picture in Europe.

This year, Brazil will continue to grow, along with other markets except Italy, he added.

Marchionne reaffirmed his wish to increase Fiat's stake in Chrysler, which it helped rescue from bankruptcy, to 51 percent, this year but he added that it would be premature to say that such a step was close.

Earlier this month, Fiat increased its stake in Chrysler to 25 percent from 20 percent.

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