New spy shots of the Buick Encore SUV testing in China. The Encore will be launched at the Chinese car market near the end of this year. It will be positioned high, price will start around 140.000 yuan, Buick will only offer the top-spec versions.

The Buick Encore will be made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. Engines: 1.4 turbo, 1.6 turbo, and probably a 2.0 for buyers who prefer a big engine. This is important in China where buyers still think an expensive car should have a big engine, no matter if it is less advanced than a smaller one. Earlier on we heard about the possibility of a naturally-aspirated 1.6 as an entry level model but that engine seems now uncertain considering the positioning of the Encore. The 1.6 however might be offered later if sales disappoint.

Via: Sohu.com.

Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd (Shanghai GM) will recall 47,415 Chevrolet Aveo-model cars over faulty brake fluid reservoirs, China’s consumer quality watchdog said Friday.

Problems with some of the vehicles’ components could lead to improper monitoring of brake fluid levels, which may result in drivers not being aware of low fluid levels under extreme circumstances, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said. Shanghai GM will replace the recalled vehicles’ brake fluid reservoirs to eliminate safety risks, the AQSIQ said. Via: ChinaDaily.

A very fine find here in Beijing. This is the Chevrolet Cruze Transformers Edition, it was launched on the China car market in July 2011, just before the 3th Transformers movie arrived in Chinese cinema’s. The Transformer franchise is extremely popular in China, especially one Bumblebee, and GM wanted to cash in.

The Chevrolet Cruze Transformers Edition came with a special Bumblebee-paintjob, Transformer-badges all over and a special Bumblebeed interior. Sadly the Transformers-Cruze didn’t become the hit GM expected, Chinese car buyers either made their Bumblebee-cars themselves or they wanted the real thing, the Transformers-Camaro! Fortunately GM brought just that to the Chinese market in December 2011.

The Chevrolet Cruze hatchback has been spotted testing on Chinese roads. The Cruze sedan is made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture but the hatchback is not available yet. Rumors about the hatch coming to the Chinese car market have been going on for at least a year and it seems GM is now getting serious about it.

When exactly the Cruze hatchback will join the sedan is yet unclear but a debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2013 seems likely. Price of the sedan starts at 99.800 yuan and ends at 148.900 yuan. Price of the hatch will start around 85.000 yuan. Bringing the hatchback would be good idea since Chinese car buyers, especially young ones, more and more move away from the traditionally popular sedans.

Via: Autohome.

The new Buick Encore SUV will be launched at the Chinese car market near the end of this year, it will be made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. Price is expected to range between 130.000 and 170.000 yuan. Engines for China: a new 1.4 turbo and the 1.6 Ecotec turbo with 140hp and 200nm, mated to a 6-speed automatic. Buyers can choose between 4×2 and 4×4. Via: Autohome.

Spy shots from a facelifted Buick Excelle testing in China. The last facelift for the Excelle, still a strong seller on the Chinese car market, was in 2008. The facelifted car is expected later this year. Most changes are up front, camouflage can’t hide a bigger grill, new light-units and a new bumper.

The current Buick Excelle, made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. Price starts at 99.990 yuan and ends at 117.900 yuan. Lone engine is a 1.6 with 110hp and 146nm, mated to a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic. Engine will continue in the facelifted Excelle and price will be about the same.

Via: Autohome.

Local car maker Holden has signed a deal to develop at least two new vehicles for China. The company has signed an agreement with Shanghai General Motors (SGM) and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) to develop new vehicles for SGM.

The agreement will involve a team of Melbourne-based engineers and designers tailoring vehicles for the Chinese market based on GM global platforms.

Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux said Holden was a valued source of expertise within GM’s international operations and was one of only seven fully integrated design, engineering and manufacturing operations in the GM group.

“We have worked with SGM and PATAC in recent years on smaller projects, but this is the first significant, long-term project to partner our organisations,” he said.

“It gives the Holden workforce a great sense of pride to work on global vehicle programs like this and to see Australian design, engineering and manufacturing expertise exported around the world.”

Holden has not given details of the type of vehicles to be developed for China under the new arrangement.

Via: NineMsn.

General Motors Co. will begin to build Cadillacs in China within a year as the automaker works to establish the luxury Cadillac brand globally, according to Joel Ewanick, GM’s global marketing officer. GM is expected to announce April 22 during the Beijing auto show that it will begin to build its all-new large Cadillac sedan, the XTS, later this year in China, according to another source familiar with the company’s plan.

The XTS will debut in China for the first time during the Beijing show, said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing.

Two other Cadillacs will eventually be built in China: the automaker’s all-new compact luxury sedan, the ATS; and its popular midsize luxury sedan, the CTS, Ewanick said during an interview last week at the New York International Auto Show.

GM believes its new Cadillacs can go head-to-head with the best of the German manufacturers, which long have been known as luxury leaders across the globe.

“You now have a lineup that you can take and transport to China first and grow it in China — and then from China we would spread out from there to Europe,” Ewanick said.

“And over the next decade, that’s our plan. We plan on making Cadillac one of the most iconic luxury brands in the world. And what’s important is what is not in that sentence. I didn’t say automobile or car.”

Building Cadillacs in China helps GM get around the pricey tariffs that China slaps on imported cars. Those fees likely get passed on by dealers to customers, said David Whitson, a senior equity analyst for Morningstar Inc.

Last year, GM sold 30,000 Cadillacs in China, up from essentially selling none at the end of 2007 and early 2008. Its 2011 sales jumped 72.8 percent from 2010.

Shanghai General Motors, a partnership between GM and SAIC Motor Corp., builds in China the Cadillac SLS, a small-volume, extended-length sedan.

GM, through partners, also builds Chevrolets, Buicks and Wuling vehicles in China.

Currently, the Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac CTS are imported to China from the United States. The Cadillac SRX crossover is imported to China from Mexico.

GM sales rising in China

GM sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in China last year, Ewanick said. About 18 million vehicles total were sold last year in the fast-growing market.

“The demand is definitely there to sell more,” Ewanick said of Cadillacs.

GM, based on many studies, believes that by 2020, China will account for more than half of all luxury goods and services purchased worldwide.

Butler said he spent time in December visiting Chinese in their homes to learn about what luxury means to them.

“For many Chinese, the pursuit of luxury is really the pursuit of life,” he said. “It’s ambition, it’s striving, it’s moving forward, so there’s almost this magnetic pull to luxury goods and services.”

Cadillac has about 50 dealers now in China, a number expected to double in the next year or two, said David Caldwell, a Cadillac spokesman.

GM doesn’t see its push of Cadillac in China hindering Buick sales. Last year, Buick set a record of selling 645,537 vehicles in China, up 17.4 percent from 2010.

“Customer perception of Cadillac is really strong as a luxury brand,” Caldwell said of the brand in China. “Buick’s positioning, I won’t speak for them, but it’s been there a long, long, long time.”

Morningstar analyst Whitson said it will be key for GM to differentiate between Cadillac and Buick consumers in China.

“Buick is so important in China, you don’t want to do anything to derail anything they have with that brand,” he said.

Luxury market competition

The entry of the ATS will give Cadillac a player in the compact luxury segment — the largest luxury segment worldwide and in the U.S. The Cadillac ATS will compete with the BMW 3-Series, the Audi A4, Infiniti G series and Mercedes-Benz C class.

“The Cadillac ATS represents our first really true credible entry in that segment,” Butler said. “That’s important from two standpoints.

“First, just participation in the largest volume segment, which is one of the reasons that we’re excited about what our sales are going to do. We just don’t have an entry there, so we’re handicapping ourselves.

“The second thing is, compact luxury tends to be the segment that people entering luxury for the first time move into.”

The XTS, which will start in the U.S. at $44,995 , will begin to be built in a few weeks and arrive in dealers’ lots in the U.S. shortly thereafter, Butler said. The ATS begins production this summer, with vehicles available in the fall, he said.

Last year, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said the company would have two global brands: Chevrolet and Cadillac. Chevys are sold in about 140 countries worldwide and Ewanick expects sales globally will top 5 million this year, up from 4.76 million in 2011.

The U.S. and China are anchors to Cadillac’s global strategy, Butler said, and new vehicle launches will help grow volume in both countries.

“But we’ve gone from nothing to 9,000, to 17,000 to 30,000 in successive years, so the growth rate has been nothing short of phenomenal,” Butler said.

Via: DetroitNews.

US auto giant General Motors said Thursday that its China sales set a record for March, despite an overall slowdown in the world’s biggest car market.

The company, the world’s biggest automaker by sales, sold 257,944 vehicles in March, up more than 10 percent from the same month last year, and its highest total for the month, according to a company statement.

Strong March sales — helped by demand for the Buick brand — brought total sales for the first quarter to 745,152 vehicles,which is also a quarterly record, it said.

“GM has maintained our growth in our largest market in 2012, despite an overall industry slowdown,” Kevin Wale, president of GM China Group, was quoted as saying.

China’s overall auto sales have slowed after the government rolled back sales incentives and some cities imposed tough restrictions on car numbers to ease chronic traffic congestion and pollution.

Nationwide sales rose just 2.5 percent to 18.51 million units in 2011, compared with an annual increase of more than 32 percent in 2010.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has yet to release auto sales figures for March.

In February, China’s total vehicles sales surged 24.5 percent to 1.57 million units but were likely boosted by seasonal factors.

Analysts say domestic consumers favour foreign brands over their local rivals for name recognition and perceptions of higher quality.

GM sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in China last year.

As the world’s largest auto market, China has become increasingly important to foreign players, like GM and Germany’s Volkswagen.

Separately, Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it would introduce four new vehicles to the China market this month, as part of previously announced plans to bring 15 new vehicles to the country by 2015.

Via: AFP.

We love Pink, we love Bling, but what do you think, is the best thing? Well, a car that has both off course! Here we have a very fine Buick Regal in shiny pink & silver, seen by reader Kael right here in the capital Beijing, thank you very much for the pics. And it is a very striking machine indeed.

The Buick Regal is made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. It is a rather popular sedan with a sporty image that Buick can only dream about back home in the US. Earlier on we saw a matte-orange Regal ‘taxi’ and an all-bling silver example. The 220hp Regal GS was listed on the Chinese car market last year, claiming the title of the ‘first sport sedan produced in China’.