Autoblog

First Chinese car imported to North America built by... Honda?

Zach Bowman — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, China, Japan, Plants/Manufacturing, Hatchback, Honda, Canada

The very first production car from China has made it to North America, though it's not what you might think. In an effort to move more of its production out of Japan, Honda has begun manufacturing Fit models in the People's Republic and importing them to Canada. There's no indication that the vehicles will make their way to the U.S. in the future, however. While there are plenty of automakers who operate plants in China, only a fraction of the vehicles built there are made for export. Last year, only three percent were sent outside of the country's borders.

Honda and other Japanese manufacturers have begun investigating production facilities outside of the U.S. to combat the rising Yen, and Honda says that the company will begin producing Fit models in Mexico for U.S. customers soon. According to The New York Times, Honda may be reticent to test the American waters with a Chinese-built vehicle for fear of risking the company's reputation for quality and reliability. That's despite the fact that the company says Chinese-built Fit models are held to the same production quality standards as any Honda vehicle built elsewhere in the world.

First Chinese car imported to North America built by... Honda? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chinese car quality complaints on the rise

Zach Bowman — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:59:00 EST

Filed under: China, Recalls, Safety

Just when we thought China's automotive industry had made some headway in the quality department, we get word that complaints about new car quality in the country have risen significantly over the past few months. During the first quarter of this year, complains on vehicles purchased within the last six months climbed 15 percent over last year's figures. Those numbers come courtesy of the China Association for Quality.

Even more surprising, the increase marks a nine-percent jump over the number of complaints filed during the fourth quarter of 2009. By and large, the defects concerned engine issues as well as small parts. A total of 94.6 percent of the complaints were lodged against cars costing less than $44,000.

[Source: Gasgoo]

Report: Chinese car quality complaints on the rise originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Volvo dealers interested in selling Geely models?

Chris Shunk — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, China, Volvo, Geely

Volvo's pending sale to Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group could lead to big changes (or not) for the Swedish automaker and its thousands of employees, but what about its hundreds of Volvo dealerships here in the States? Could Volvo dealers be granted Geely franchises? Will the Chinese automaker utilize its new sales channels to slowly introduce low-cost Chinese vehicles to the U.S. market? Automotive News asked dealers from around the country if they would be interested in selling Geely models, and the responses were mixed at best.

According to AN, many dealers were "receptive" to selling low-cost Geely models; a seemingly expected answer for any good business type. Mark O'Steen of O'Steen Volvo in Jacksonville, Florida reportedly called the possibility of selling Geely models "appealing," adding "it is just another niche that we don't cover, and hopefully they do have some potential in the United States." Mike DiChristofano, vice president of Volvo of Tucson in Arizona had perhaps the best answer of all, pointing to the inability of General Motors to selll off Saab (at least to this point), adding "until this deal goes down, I'm not even thinking about selling a Geely car."

Even if Geely does plan to begin selling Chinese vehicles to the U.S. market by using Volvo dealers, the plan will likely take a lot of time to materialize. Geely reportedly has a lot of work to do to improve safety and quality before being ready for the U.S. market. Global Insight analyst Lin Huaibin told AN that Geely is at least five years away from having products ready for American showrooms.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. | Image: David McNew/Getty]

U.S. Volvo dealers interested in selling Geely models? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Design Geely's new logo, win RMB 2 million (that's $257k)

Chris Tutor — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:19:00 EST

Filed under: China

While Geely's logo isn't exactly iconic (ha ha), it's not nearly as bad or imitative as some we've seen out of China. In fact, it reminds us a bit of the old Plymouth logo. Nevertheless, the Geely folks think they need a new one and they're asking you, yes you, to design a new one. They're willing to award the best logo designer $257,000 for their work. There are some rules you need to follow, which are outlined in the press release after the jump. Not mentioned, though, is the company's new advertising slogan, "Beyond_The Value." And, yes, the underscore is intentional. So you might want to keep that in mind as you put in $250,000 worth of logo designing.

With all the creative entries we had on our business card design contest, we're hoping our readers don't disappoint. When the chosen logo is announced sometime after August, we expect to be showing you a photo of one of our more artistic regulars holding an oversized check with a bunch of Chinese zeros on it.

We had a hard time finding a place to enter the contest, but you might start by emailing Geely spokesman Zhang Xiaodong at kukubo@126.com.

Editor's note: Sorry about the typo Zhang's email address, now corrected.

[Source: China Car Times]

Continue reading Design Geely's new logo, win RMB 2 million (that's $257k)

Design Geely's new logo, win RMB 2 million (that's $257k) originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coming soon to a theater near you: "Malcolm Bricklin: The Movie"?

Chris Paukert — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:56:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, China, Etc.

Automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin's business successes and failings over the years have been well documented in the media over the years, with Autoblog being no exception. All eyes are on Bricklin to see if his grandiose plans for Chinese automaker Chery can meet with Subaru-like success, or whether the result will be more on the order of the dismal failure of his self-named Bricklin 'safety' sports car, or the discount embarrassment that was Yugo's foray into North America.

But apparently, all of this isn't enough for the once-and-future importer. According to Fortune Magazine's Alex Taylor III, Bricklin is chronicling his daily life leading up to the launch of Chery with a video crew that follows him around 24/7-- reportedly, more than 1,000 hours of footage has been recorded. Could 'Bricklin: The Movie' be far behind?

[Sources: Fortune Magazine via CNNMoney; AutoNews]

Coming soon to a theater near you: "Malcolm Bricklin: The Movie"? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Increasingly savvy Chinese auto consumers quickly becoming tough sell

Eric Bryant — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Trends

The growing Chinese auto market has apparently sparked the growth of a highly-discerning group of customers, which might be a bit surprising considering that 84% of Chinese new-car transactions take place with first-time car buyers. With information moving faster than ever before and in a market flooded with over 100 brands, however, consumers can afford to be picky.

Proving that the gearhead affliction shows no geographic boundaries, over one-third of Chinese auto buyers place drivetrain performance as their most-important concern (compare this to only 19% of buyers here in the US). On the other hand, credit mania has not yet swept China, with nearly 90% of buyers choosing to pay in cash.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Increasingly savvy Chinese auto consumers quickly becoming tough sell originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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