According to China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATRC), China’s passenger car sales rose 59.26% year-on-year in August to 977,300 units, buoyed by new model launches and better promotions. August’s growth rate was 43.83 percentage points higher than July’s figure, said Tianjin-based researchers. Total auto sales, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and tractors, increased 31.53% [...]
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, FAW Car and Geely Automobile all posted strong year-on-year net profit growth in the first half of 2010. Profits at the three car firms rose by over 200%, 100%, and 35%, respectively. China’s car market, already the largest in the world, has benefited from a strong government stimulus program designed to [...]
BYD, the Shenzhen-based batter and car maker that counts Warren Buffett among its investors, saw its first-half net profit more than double year-on-year to $356.4 million. However, Wang Chuanfu, the company chairman, said he expects “modest growth” in the Chinese auto industry in coming months. Helped by Beijing’s stimulus measures, BYD sold 450,000 cars in [...]
Sixteen large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have agreed to form an alliance that will develop and created standards for electric and hybrid vehicles. The plan was announced by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which oversees China’s 125 largest SOEs. SASAC said the alliance would have an initial budget of $200 million, but some [...]
The man picked to head up Volvo following its $1.5 billion acquisition by Geely Holding Group plans to push the brand upmarket and make China its biggest market within five years. “I totally agree we have to up-scale Volvo in the near future to have a solid position in the premium segment,” Stefan Jacoby said. [...]
China’s auto sales rose 14% year-on-year in July to 1.2 million units, down from 19.4% on-year growth in June, according to new figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Month-on-month, sales were down 11.9% from June. The association said auto sales had grown 43% in the first seven months of the year to 10.3 [...]
Ford Motor announced it has completed the sale of Volvo Cars to China’s car maker Geely Holding Group for $1.5 billion, the biggest Chinese overseas acquisition in the auto sector yet. Ford said Geely paid $1.3 billion in cash on Monday and issued a $200 million note to complete the sale. It is a lower [...]
The Ministry of Commerce has granted Geely Holding Group final approval to acquire the Volvo car brand from Ford Motor for $1.8 billion. Geely spokesperson Ning Shuyong said that the approval will allow Geely to formally complete the acquisition, which is planned to close in the third quarter of this year, having been underway since [...]
Japanese auto electronics component manufacturer Omron is facing labor unrest at its Guangzhou plant. Several hundred workers walked off work at the company’s Guangzhou plant, which supplies components to car-makers in southern China, including Ford Motor and compatriot firm Honda, which suffered similar labor unrest earlier in the summer. Toyota has also been affected by strikes [...]
Honda Motor President Takanobu Ito placed blame for the series of disruptive strikes in China on managers at the company’s China subsidiary. The strikes set back Honda production in China by nearly 20,000 vehicles, and the ensuing wage rises Honda was forced to promise to resume production further cut into margins. Honda says it will [...]
