Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Chinese Grand Prix

If you've been following the 2008 Formula One World Championship and watched the last few races from Japan Singapore and Italy, you've likely grown accustomed to some serious white-knuckle, wheel-to-wheel racing. This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix bore little resemblance to those topsy-turvy, order-upsetting races, and more like a centrally-planned parade that Red China has grown accustomed to. So if you missed today's race from Singapore Shanghai, don't fret. You can follow the jump to find out how it turned out.

Fiat and Nanjing may have divorced their marriage on passenger cars, but that shouldn't affect their offspring. Following Fiat's withdrawal from its joint venture with the Chinese automaker, production of three current Fiat models at the Nanjing plant is expected to continue.

With demand for the Sino-Italian cars slowly dwindling, Nanjing Fiat Auto was expected to continue production in the short term only to satisfy orders placed, and the manufacturing of spare parts to support the service of the cars already sold will also continue for years to come. However, recent reports indicate that as part of its divorce with Fiat, Nanjing acquired the rights to continue building the Palio Weekend wagon, Siena sedan and Perla (a larger sedan having been developed in China and based on the Siena platform) under a different badge. Component suppliers in China report that they have received no cancellation on shipments to the assembly plant, so they're expecting to continue on with business as usual.

[Source: Automotive News Europe (sub. req'd) via Italiaspeed]

Industry analysts widely agree that one of the principal factors preventing Chinese automakers from succeeding outside of China is the local industry's fragmentation, with over 100 automakers vying for their slice of the proverbial pie. However, a merger announced Wednesday between two major Chinese automakers, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC) and Nanjing Automotive Group, stands a stronger chance of succeeding in the international car market as a larger group.

The merger, which has been long anticipated, involves SAIC paying $285.7 million for Nanjing. In return, Nanjing's parent company acquires 4.9 percent of SAIC Motor Corp.

The products of SAIC's joint ventures with GM and Volkswagen Group account for 14% of the domestic market in China, selling 1.25 million vehicles in the first ten months of 2007. Nanjing, meanwhile, sold less than 80,000 over the same period, making the acquisition a merger in the same sense as Mercedes had "merged" with Chrysler. Nanjing, however, owns MG Rover, whose plants in England SAIC hopes to use as a foothold into the European market.

[Source: Automotive News – subscription required]

GM is in a market share dogfight here in the States, but in emerging markets like China, the General is quickly gaining a strong foothold. Rick Wagoner and company are progressing so splendidly in the world's fastest-growing market that the automaker became the first manufacturer to sell one million units within a calender year. That millionth vehicle was a Buick Park Avenue, which is fitting since Buick is hugely popular in the land of the Great Wall. The speed with which the General attained this level of success is impressive as well, as GM sold 100,000 units five years earlier.

With a population of 1.6 billion and an insatiable appetite for automobiles, China seems like as good a place as any for GM to increase its global automotive presence. With more and more automakers turning their attention (and funding) to China, however, GM's exponential growth since 2002 will likely begin to stabilize. For now, however, China is to GM what the US was back in the 60s and 70s.

[Source: GM]

Volkswagen makes good-looking vehicles with terrific interiors, very good fuel economy, and spirited driving dynamics. In the US, those virtues alone don't make a high volume automaker, as price tends to play a major role in buyer's decisions. Due to the strength of the Euro, VW has much higher fixed costs than its competitors, even when production in Mexico is taken into account. As a result of their large financial burden, Volkswagens usually cost more than most of the competition. To strengthen their competitive position and leverage cheap labor in developing countries, VW is planning on producing vehicles in China for the US market.

VW, along with partner SECI Motors, is a juggernaut in the land of the Great Wall, as the Germans automaker has been entrenched in China since 1984. The SECI/VW partnership will replace the Chinese market Passat Lingyu with a sedan that will also be sold on our shores. Many automakers have utilized China's inexpensive labor for cheaper parts, but as of yet, no US-sold vehicles have been assembled there. If VW can make cars in China that can meet US safety and emissions standards, Europe's only volume automaker with a presence in the US will go a long way towards closing the cost gap.

[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]

UPDATE: Autoline Detroit has decided that the unaired portion of Bob Lutz's interview is so juicy that they're saving it for next week's show, along with an interview of CAW president Buzz Hargrove. So, instead of hearing Bob address the Buicks from China on Autoline Detroit's website, you'll have to wait until next week's episode on TV that airs Sunday, May 13th.

click above image to view more high-res pics of the Buick Park Avenue for China

We think it's safe to say that most were impressed with the Zeta-based Buick Park Avenue that was debuted in China at the Shanghai Auto Show last month and a little bit more than disappointed there are no plans to produce such a vehicle for the U.S. market. While the fate of Zeta-based sedans in GM's North American lineup seem to change by the day, Buick has until this point been left out, forced to saddle on with the LaCrosse and Lucerne as its mainstay sedans.

Ming, a staff member at GMInsideNews, wanted to know what GM's Bob Lutz thought of how well the Chinese-bound Buick Park Avenue was received in Shanghai and the tepid reception of the Buick "Super" twins at the New York Auto Show. Ming sent his question to John McElroy, the host of Autoline Detroit, a great show that's shown on cable access for free in the Detroit area and distributed on the SPEED Channel nationwide. The next episode of Autoline Detroit features Lutz as the main attraction, and Ming received a confirmation from McElroy that Lutz was asked the question and takes it on.

You won't hear Lutz's answer on the broadcast, however. The producer's saved it for the "Extra" section on their website that shows, uh, extra stuff not in the broadcast version of the show. It will be available for viewing after the show airs on Sunday, 5/6/2007. We'll post a link to it then, as I'm sure we're all eager to hear what big Bob has to say.

[Source: GMInsideNews]

NASCAR has a solid reputation as a race series firmly entrenched in the southern United States, but has been fighting hard to defeat that image and branch out of Old Dixie. With races lined up in such northern locations as Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, NASCAR has long since established itself with the yanks, but with races planned for Mexico and Montreal, the good ol' boys are looking to expand internationally, as well.

It seems that south and north of the border isn't far enough, however, as NASCAR officials recently made a trip half-way around the world to China in order to look into reaching the biggest potential audience in the world.

NASCAR insists that they're not looking to set up a top-tier Nextel Cup race in China, just some junior series events. You've got to figure they've got their sites set on something more ambitious than that, however. The last venture into the Far East finished in 1998 after NASCAR held three annual exhibition races in Japan.

The international expansion forms part of a bigger campaign NASCAR has been waging to establish itself as a top-tier racing series, and the recent defection of F1 stars like Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve hasn't hurt any, either. No doubt that NASCAR has also been keeping a close eye on competing race series, including Formula One, which has been setting up more international races each season; ChampCars, which is planning a return to Europe; and most of all the Speedcar Series, which is gearing up for races across Asia in American-built stock cars.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

click above image to view more model pics from the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show

Whether it's the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris, or the Shanghai Motor Show in China, one thing remains constant: models standing next to cars. We've had a lot of discussions lately about why models are still used at auto shows in this enlightened age, and our best answer is that automakers want the public to feel like they would look this good standing next to a Buick, BMW or Geely automobile. Clearly, this strategy is not lost on the many Chinese automakers at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show. Our colleague from Autoblog Chinese kept his camera snapping a couple extra frames at each display so he could assemble this Girls of Shanghai Gallery for us, so we hope you enjoy. It's interesting to note the mix of western and Asian models hired for this show, as well.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Gallery: Girls of Shanghai

click on the pic above to view the gallery

Cross-training sneakers took a little while to catch on, too. They weren't the standout shoe in any of the segments they straddled, but they aimed to be competent for more than one use. Think of the Audi Cross Coupe concept as a vehicular cross trainter. Strictly as a coupe, meh; it would look sweet were it, say, half a meter lower with 1/3 less body at the beltline. Then, it'd be closer to living up to the Coupe part of its moniker. Ah, but here's where the Cross comes in. If you want a straight-up Audi coupe, there's already one of those - but there's nothing to offer if you yen for an Audi in the format of the BMW X3. The Cross Coupe aims to change this. It's well equipped to run in that segment against competition like the X3, LR2 and the upcoming Infiniti EX. It certainly carries more style than the Duplo looks of the LR2, or the awfully confused lines of the X3. The Cross Coupe is a handsome design with some unique detailing, and it bears a passing resemblance to an AMC Spirit - one of our favorite vehicular oddballs. We love the fastback profile, and our intelligence points to the Cross Coupe being a harbinger of the Q5. Our fellow Autobloggers over at Autoblog Chinese have put together a nice gallery with lots of live shots of the Cross Coupe Quattro.