Monday, October 26th, 2009
It’s a strange dilemma China has on its hands. And most Chinese will probably never even see this blog due to the massive censorship on its hands.
We all know that China’s so polluted that their air makes Los Angeles smog taste like a crisp mountain stream. So naturally, they’re really putting the push on to go green and get some more electric cars on the market.
Well, they’re not the only ones there, but China’s got a SERIOUS problem. Where most of us have been driving cars for a long time, and are starting to seriously think about going green just by ourselves, the Chinese have not had cars all that long. Well, not INDIVIDUAL Chinese, anyway. Individual Chinese haven’t had cars all that long and now that they’ve got them, they mean to keep them.
Now along comes the government telling them, oh, yeah, I know you’ve had this car like all of six weeks but we need you to give it back to the state. Oh, don’t worry–we have electric cars coming out. When? Um…soon. And they’ll only cost as much as what you paid for the last car! Subsidies? Um…look…just get back to work, okay? Or we’ll kill your children. You know how this works by now.
It’s a tough road China’s got to drive to get its citizens to go green, and there are plenty of ruts and bumps in it.
Tags:
china,
Chinese,
electric cars,
Gas,
gas cars,
going green,
green cars
Posted in Alternative Energy, Business, Cars, Enviroment, Industry, Law | Comments
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Buick has today announced that their next mid-size sedan will be none other than the Regal. You may be familiar with the name Regal in relation to Buick as Autoblog reports around 6 years ago they had a model with the same name.
The 2010 Buick Regal for the North American market will be based on the Chinese sedan of the same name but other than that we have no information regarding what will be under the hood or what cosmetic changes, if any, will apply.
We’ll keep you posted.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/22/gm-hits-two-million-buick-sales-in-china/
Tags:
Buick,
Chinese,
north america,
regal,
Sedan
Posted in 2010 Vehicles, Buick, Cars, GM | Comments
Friday, October 9th, 2009
I’ve seen some weird concept cars writing here, but I think I might have found the (literally!) high-water mark for weird in the Tang Hua Detroit Fish.
Designed as part of what can only be described as an insane quest to create an “iconic” car for China, the Detroit Fish comes standard with a 3.5 kilowatt electric motor and lithium ion battery pack, which allows it to go about seventy five miles and achieve a whopping top speed of roughly 24 miles per hour. This means, of course, it’s yet another city cruiser--long-range commuters need not apply.
When pressed, its designer had this to say about the enormous yellow nightmare of a car: “There will be no Chinese national cars of significance if the Chinese spirit is absent from their design.”
But you’ve got to give him credit for trying–they were gunning for “distinctiveness” and distinctiveness they got. Will anyone actually drive this massive fish? I call it unlikely.
Tags:
battery pack,
Chinese,
chinese car,
Electric,
lithium ion,
Tang Hua Detroit Fish
Posted in Alternative Energy, Cars, Concept Cars | Comments
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Back in June reports surfaced of a possible Hummer buyout by China’s Tengzhong but here we are 3 months later and still no deal. Today, however, reports have again surfaced regarding the buyout, this time notifying us that it is expected to go down in Q3 of this year.
There’s no official word on just how much the transaction will go down for but Autoblog suggests Tengzhong will be paying about half of what GM had originally wanted for it or about $200 million.
Let’s hope that under Tengzhong’s management, the Hummer brand will live on.
Tags:
buyout,
Chinese,
HUMMER,
speculation,
tengzhong
Posted in Business, Cars, GM, HUMMER | Comments
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Audi has today announced the impending availability of the A6L TDI. This vehicle is a diesel burning alternative to the already popular Audi A6L which reportedly managed to move 8,440 vehicles in July alone.
This vehicle features a 2.7-liter engine with 189HP and 258 pound-feet of torque along with a 34.6mpg fuel efficiency rating. While you won’t be able to pick this up anywhere outside of China, Chinese consumers can expect to pay around 488,800 yuan or about $71,500 USD for Audi’s brand new A6L TDI.
via autobloggreen
Tags:
a6l,
china,
Chinese,
diesel,
TDI
Posted in 2009 Vehicles, 2010 Vehicles, Alternative Energy, Audi, Cars, Sale | Comments
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Chatenet CH26
Apparently, the French have joined the Chinese automakers that rip off vehicle designs and may be giving them a run for their money. The French Chatenet CH26 that rips off both MINI and the Alfa Romeo Mito.
This two seater is powered by a 523cc two-cylinder diesel engine that generates 5.4 hp, and it claims to weigh a mere 769 pounds. Top speed for the Chatenet is 28mph and it assures a fuel efficiency of 75mpg. It still costs $19,000. Maybe the Chinese made knockoffs are a better value!?!
Tags:
Alfa Romeo Mito,
Chatenet CH26,
Chinese,
French,
Mini
Posted in Cars | Comments
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
Chinese automakers are notoriously famous for their nearly identical copies of other carmakers designs. And naturally they claim that the design is 100 % original. The threat of a court case doesn’t seem to deter the Chinese auto industry from creating different “knockoffs”.
This time Chinese BYD Auto has produced a model they are calling T6, which looks almost identical to the Porsche Cayenne. Rumor has it that BYD plans to bring out the T6 next fall with prices starting around 9,000 euros ($11,960) and power would come from a 2.0-liter engine.
Tags:
BYD Auto,
Cayenne,
Chinese,
knockoff,
Porsche,
t6
Posted in Cars | Comments
Saturday, March 28th, 2009
The Chinese have been known to copy certain products and vehicles are no exception. In fact you may be surprised to note that they have cloned the previous generation Lexus RX350. The S6 has a different grille and revised headlamps/tail lights but its design shamelessly copies that of the RX350.
But what makes this story even more intriguing and apparently quite frustrating for Toyota / Lexus officials, is that believe it or not, we discovered that BYD Auto has actually succeeded in patenting the S6’s design at the European trademark office.
It is scheduled to go on sale in China later on in the year. It makes you wonder how Toyota and Lexus feels about this cloning incident.
(Source) Car Scoop
Tags:
Auto,
byd,
Car,
Chinese,
Clone,
grille,
Lexus,
Toyota,
trademark
Posted in Cars, Lexus, Toyota | Comments
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Chinese BYD Hybrid
China’s BYD Auto announced at the Detroit Auto Show this week that it plans to offer high-end hybrid cars to the United States market by 2011. Avoiding budget cars entirely, BYD will offer a plug in electric hybrid mid-sized sedan and also a plug in hybrid van, both of which will come with an MSRP of between $30,000 and $40,000. The biggest challenge in getting the vehicles to the U.S. market will be the strict U.S. safety and emissions tests, which the Chinese vehicles have not yet been able to pass. A second challenge is that no U.S. dealership network yet exists for Chinese cars. Some industry analysts question whether the battery technology—which the Chinese claim is cutting edge lithium ion—really even exists yet.
The Chinese are known for making premature announcements of product innovation, just as a kind of a warning shot to the west. Should BYD actually make it to the U.S. market, it is likely they will also have to deal with negative U.S. perceptions of Chinese made goods. So far, the Chinese are not initiating or participating in that discussion.
Tags:
byd,
Chinese,
hybrid
Posted in Alternative Energy | Comments
