China
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Perhaps as a sign of the times, China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the biggest market for Rolls-Royce as early as next year. That’s an impressive feat considering that in China Rolls-Royce models cost more than double what they do here in the U.S. The Rolls-Royce Phantom, for example, has a starting price in China of approximately $990,000, while in the U.S. that figure comes in at $380,000. A similar price differential applies for the new Rolls-Royce Ghost as well. In must be noted, however, that cars in China are subjected to an import duty of 25 percent, a value-added tax of...
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Video: Another 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia Goes Up In FlamesWe wish someone were making this up. Maybe then we could explain how so many examples of the still new 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia have been damaged in such a short space of time. If you haven’t been counting, the tally already stands at 10 in the past 9 months--not including one car that was...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Porsche Cayenne Going To China With Supercharged V-6
Porsche is planning to sell its redesigned 2011 Cayenne SUV in China with an entirely different, more modern standard V-6 engine than the Cayenne gets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Bengt Halvorson -
First Details On Next-Gen Volkswagen Phaeton, U.S. Market Crucial
The Phaeton flagship sedan may have been a major flop for Volkswagen but officials are keen for a launch of a successor. The car was priced similarly to BMWs and Audis but it wore a humble VW badge, and there was nothing particularly exciting or innovative about it either. It had mundane styling...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bentley Unveils Design Series China Special Edition Models
Bentley is milking the most out of its Continental range, today releasing two more special editions based on the Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur Speed models. The new editions, dubbed the Design Series China, are making their world debut at this week’s 2010 Beijing Auto Show and sadly...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 BMW 5-Series Long-Wheelbase Launched In China
Due to demand from Asian markets, where many 5-Series cars are used as chauffeur driven limos, BMW has released a new long-wheelbase version of its popular luxury sedan. The new 2011 BMW 5-Series Long-Wheelbase has been designed and developed exclusively for the Chinese car market and will make its...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
China’s rapidly expanding vehicle fleet, increasing manufacturing industry and insatiable demand for new cars has pushed the country to world’s biggest auto market status, outpacing the U.S. for the first time in history. Thanks to government incentives and a range of new models being launched, passenger vehicle sales in the world’s most populace country topped 10.3 million units while total vehicle sales are estimated at a around 13.6 million. This represents a staggering 45% increase in vehicle sales compared with just one year ago--and this was during the global financial...
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Volvo Dealers Ponder Selling Geely Brand In U.S.
One of the biggest hurdles Chinese automakers have in the U.S. is their poor image and reputation for safety.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Preferred Bidder Geely Planning Up To Three New Models For Volvo
With access to the Chinese market Geely could build and sell up to 200,000 vehicles per year in China alone.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford Says Geely Closer to Winning Volvo
Global industry shift accelerates as China's car industry comes closer to a big prize in Volvo.
Martin Padgett -
HUMMER And Tengzhong Sign Sale Agreement
The news isn't official, but an insider claims Sichuan Tengzhong's purchase of Hummer will be signed soon.
Nelson Ireson -
Ferrari Announces 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE China Limited Edition
The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE China Limited Edition will be built in a highly exclusive run of less than a dozen cars.
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Accurate crystal balls were in short supply a year ago, but this year predictions of recovery are flying. The latest to join the side of the optimists are Audi and Lamborghini, predicting the market to reach its lowest point this year and start recovery in 2010. The Volkswagen Group's luxury and super-luxury brands aren't saying all is well, however. "Global markets will bottom out this year," Audi chief financial officer Axel Strotbek said in an interview with Bloomberg. “By and large, we expect a slight recovery in 2010.” The uptick is already being seen in Germany, where Audi...
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Belgium’s RHJ International emerges as latest bidder for Opel
Holding company RHJ International has emerged this week as a strong challenger to Magna International in the bidding war for General Motors' Opel division. The Belgium-based industrial holding firm, which is linked to the U.S. buyout company Ripplewood, confirmed that it was in advanced talks to...
Kenneth Hall -
Chinese bureaucrats cause a ruffle by approving Mercedes and BMW cars for government use
China is now the single biggest market in the world for new cars but that doesn’t mean the government is slowing down on the purchase of cars for its official fleets. While this usually would not be worthy of reporting, the fact that the Chinese government has approved luxurious Mercedes Benz...
Kenneth Hall -
China overtakes U.S. as world’s biggest auto market for first half of 2009
America’s days as the world’s biggest auto market are coming to an end, with China for the first time ever overtaking the U.S. in vehicle sales for the first of 2009. On the back of strong sales in the month of June, which itself was up 36.5%, China’s total vehicle sales for the...
Jeremy Weber -
Beijing Auto offers $923 million for Opel, but race could already be over
Three companies have submitted bids for Opel so far, but another, China's Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC), has now joined the fray with an offer of more than $923 million. However, Opel front-runner Magna International's consortium partner Sberbank believes the bidding war is already...
Alex Kaufmann -
Report: Hummer deal on the rocks, China doesn't want gas guzzlers
General Motors' deal with China's Tengzhong to buy Hummer was thought to be as good as done in early June, but today reports of chatter on China's state radio casts the sale in a different light. The gas-guzzling SUVs just don't fit with the conservation plans in place in Beijing. So now the AP is...
Ralph Hanson -
Poor sales, growing public concern for the environment and the recession have all added up to weaken General Motors’ chances of finding many buyers for Hummer but the struggling automaker confirmed last week that at least one company was interested in the sale. That company was Chinese industrial machinery manufacturer Tengzhong, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with GM and is likely to conclude the sale by the third quarter of this year. The deal is expected to secure more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at Hummer dealerships around the country. The...
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Role reversal: China bans four Renault models for safety concerns
In an odd and somewhat comical reversal of the usual state of things, China has today announced the halt of import of four Renault models on the back of 'serious safety risks' and non-compliance with regulations. The models affected include the Laguna, Scenic, Megane and Megane Coupe-Cabriolet - in...
Nelson Ireson -
Chinese-built Chevrolet Spark, Aveo and Lova could hit U.S. showrooms by 2011
Just a few days ago we brought you a story about General Motors considering bringing small cars from China to the U.S. in order to bolster its sales in the segment. Currently, the carmaker is looking to sell around 17,300 Chinese-made vehicles in the U.S. by 2011 and over 50,000 units by 2014...
James Martinez -
MG prepping new lower-cost TF 135 for UK
Chronicling MG's path through the last decade is tough enough, and delving further back borders on the arcane, but under SAIC's ownership, the line of British-built roadsters has been brought back to life, starting with the currently-available TF LE-500, and soon to be joined by an updated version...
Alex Kaufmann -
GM looking to China to source next-gen affordable cars for U.S.
Just a few days ago we told you General Motors would be looking to build more and more cars overseas as part of its restructuring plans, and that China was one of the first places they'd look. Today news that GM will in fact be bringing Chinese cars to the U.S. has begun to trickle out into the...
Ralph Hanson -
Report: GM wants 30% stake in possible joint Opel-Fiat company
The landscape of the automotive industry is changing, and before things are done, the changes may be massive. Already Fiat and Chrysler are forging an alliance, and Fiat is also going after part of Opel. Now a source says General Motors wants a piece of any merged Fiat-Opel operation that might...
Ralph Hanson
