SHANGHAI -- Given Chery Automobile Co.'s close ties to the Chinese government, the company has a good chance to win regulatory approval to establish a joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover in China. Land Rover SUVs and Jaguar sedans are in strong demand in China, so the alliance should be able to generate sizable profits for Chery. But the partnership alone can't help Chery much. To pull itself out of its doldrums, the Chinese automaker must rein in its reckless expansion and streamline its product lineup. Pictured: Yang Jian is managing editor of Automotive News China.
Chery Automobile Co. has applied for government permission to establish a joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover in China with an investment of 12.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion). The new plant, to be constructed in Changshu in east China's Jiangsu province, would produce up to 130,000 vehicles a year, according to the Web site of China's Ministry of Environment Protection.
BEIJING (Reuters) -- Volvo Car Corp.'s Chinese owner offered to take a large minority stake in the Japanese maker of Subaru cars. The offer, which was never accepted, illustrates Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.'s efforts to gain technology to improve its cars. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Geely offered to buy a 20 percent stake in Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. late last year through an investment banking intermediary.
Chinese workers at FAW-GM Light Commercial Vehicle Co.'s Hongta plant went back to work Sunday after staging a one-week strike. FAW-GM Light Commercial Vehicle Co. is a 50-50 joint venture between General Motors and China FAW Group Corp. The workers and some of the plant's retirees blocked the plant gates and demanded higher wages and housing allowances, according to the plant's Web site.
Jianghuai Automobile Co. has withdrawn its plan to raise 2.8 billion yuan ($443 million) to expand vehicle production. The automaker had planned to issue 150 million shares of stock on the domestic market. But China's shaky domestic stock market led the company to shelve its plan, a JAC spokesman told journalists. The move is a setback for the automaker's effort to strengthen its passenger-vehicle business.
Shaanxi Automobile Group Co., a Chinese heavy-duty truckmaker, plans to assemble trucks in Brazil from semi-knockdown kits shipped from China. The plant will be set up as a joint venture with Brazilian truck dealer Metro-Shacman, according to the government of the northwest China province of Shaanxi. The plant, to be built in Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil, will start production in 2013 with initial annual output of 3,000 heavy-duty trucks.
HONG KONG -- China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings Ltd., a dealership group with 60 stores throughout China, will raise $433 million (2.7 billion yuan) in an initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal reported. Citing unnamed sources, The Journal said the dealership group will sell 312.2 million shares of stock on the Hong Kong exchange.
HONG KONG -- Injection molder and metal fabricator Eva Precision Industrial Holdings Ltd. is building a factory complex in the central Chinese city of Wuhan to serve China's automotive market. The project will help the company ease dependence on its exports business. Eva Precision, of Hong Kong, said it will open the plant as a metal-stamping facility and may add plastic molding equipment.
The Beijing auto show featured lots of flashy luxury cars and light vehicles, scantily clad women, loud music and flashing lights. But you had to look very carefully to find any electric vehicles. Just a few years ago, the government declared that China would be the world's largest EV market. It hasn't worked out that way -- at least, not yet. Pictured: Alysha Webb, a former China correspondent for Automotive News, is a Los Angeles-based writer.
General Motors has started assembling microvans in its Egypt plant with knockdown kits supplied from its China joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. The first microvan, known as the Wuling Rongguang in China, rolled off the production line last week, according to the company. In Egypt, the 1.2-liter five-seat microvan will be sold as the Chevrolet Move.
