BYD wants to produce electric buses in Canada
Published on May 16, 2012 by W.E. Ning
Domestic automaker BYD Co has signed an agreement to produce electric buses in Windsor, Canada, a city across the border from Detroit that was long involved the US auto industry. According to the deal between BYD and the Windsor government, the Chinese company will produce 500 buses annually in the city.
Facelifted Toyota Crown will be launched in China in June
Published on May 16, 2012 by Joey Wang
The facelifted Toyota Crown was expected to debut at last month’s Beijing Auto Show but it did not appear. Chinese media now report the updated Crown will be launched on the China car market in June. The Crown is made in China by the FAW-Toyota joint venture. Facelift includes a new grill with more chrome, new light units, new bumpers and an updated interior.
Volvo working on stretched S60 for Chinese car market
Published on May 16, 2012 by Joey Wang
Volvo is working on a stretched S60 that will debut at the Chinese market sometime next year. The S60L will compete with cars such as the Audi A4L and the BMW 3Li. These two cars are made in china, the S60L however will not, which will make it more expensive than its competition. The Volvo S80L, a China-only stretched S80, is made locally at the Chang’an-Volvo joint venture. Read more »
Volkswagen Lavida goes hatchback in China
Published on May 16, 2012 by Joey Wang
Volkswagen is working on a hatchback version of the Lavida, a China-only sedan made by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. The facelifted Lavida sedan just debuted at the Beijing Auto Show last month, and the Lavida hatchback is expected to hit the Chinese car market in 2013. It will likely be called ‘Lavida RV’, many Chinese automakers call their hatchbacks ‘RV’ and Volkswagen seems to go with that flow.
Spotted in China: the Yangzhou Kaiersimai TM-12 EV Sportscar
Published on May 16, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
I love the smell of electric cars in the morning! Here we have a very special electric mini sportscar, seen by reader Lao Wei (thank you!) in southern Beijing. This is the Yangzhou Kaiersimai TM-12 EV Sportscar. In Chinese it is advertised as: Diandongxiaopaoche (电动小跑车), or Small Electric Race Car. Let’s see how fast it is!
A slightly overloaded truck in Beijing
Published on May 15, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Here we have a slightly overloaded truck, seen on the outskirts of Beijing by reader Kael. This way of loading a truck is very much forbidden in the capital but the further from the center you get the less police cares.
Party Time! Citroen C5 20th Anniversary Edition hits the China car market
Published on May 15, 2012 by W.E. Ning
Citroen has launched the C5 20th Anniversary Edition on the Chinese car market. The special C5 celebrates the 20th birthday of the Dongfeng-PSA joint venture. Congrats there! The joint venture was established in 1992 and started production of their first car, the ZX-based Fukang, in 1994.
New BMW 1-series launched on the Chinese car market
Published on May 15, 2012 by W.E. Ning
BMW’s ugly duckling has been launched on the Chinese car market. The old but pretty 1-series was not very successful in China, BMW so tries again with an ugly 1. The smallest BMW is not only ugly, it is also imported and therefore very expensive, price starts at 242.000 yuan and ends at 375.000 yuan. Models: 115i, 118i and 325i. BMW has no plans for local production of the 1-series yet. Via: Autohome.
Zotye Z300 hits the China car market
Published on May 15, 2012 by W.E. Ning
The new Zotye Z300 sedan has been launched at the Chinese car market. Zotye, being a funny brand, has been funny with the price: starts at 58.999 yuan and ends at 69.999 yuan. No, what do you get for all those nines?
Spotted in China: Wald Mercedes-Benz C-class Black Bison Edition
Published on May 15, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Parked next to a hotel not far from my home in Beijing, this is the mad Wald Mercedes-Benz C-class Black Bison Edition. Good name! Wald is a tuner from Japan, doing everything from Rolls-Royce to Nissan. The Black Bison Edition was born in 2008 and is based 0n the C63 AMG.
