bladerunner
Banned Idiot
Youre a man after my own heart nothing like a good old pointless action movie to relax the brain after a tiring session on Sino excuse while I set up my illegal download heh heh
Cars! Cars! Cars!
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
Youre a man after my own heart nothing like a good old pointless action movie to relax the brain after a tiring session on Sino excuse while I set up my illegal download heh heh
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
You are right its like an Advertisement. I think the film and its remake with the Minis(cant rem title) is the yardstick when it comes to comparing car promotional type movies.
Do you think Audi are trying to say something in the scene where it bettered the Merc.. Unless Im mistaken the Audi was in the shadow of the Merc, until the advent of the Quattro. I even heard some people in past years refer to the Audi as the poor man's Merc
Maybe Audi financed the Movie.
Do you think Audi are trying to say something in the scene where it bettered the Merc.. Unless Im mistaken the Audi was in the shadow of the Merc, until the advent of the Quattro. I even heard some people in past years refer to the Audi as the poor man's Merc
Maybe Audi financed the Movie.
China offers incentives to stimulate hybrid cars
2009-01-31 11:28:44 Print
BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China is to offer policy incentives to speed up spread of energy-saving cars in 13 pilot cities.
The ministries of finance and science and technology jointly issued a circular on providing subsidies to users of hybrid, electric and fuel cell cars in Beijing, Shanghai and another 11 major cities, the Ministry of Finance said on its website on Sunday.
Public transport, taxi companies, post services and public offices were encouraged to use more energy-saving vehicles, the circular said.
The government promised to give companies and institutions, which purchase and use such vehicles, lump sum subsidies to offset their extra cost on fuelling efficient cars than ordinary ones.
Meanwhile, the central government urged local governments to subsidize the development and maintenance of energy-friendly cars.
This is considered the boldest measure the central government has ever taken to stimulate promotion of hybrid cars although the subsidies have yet to extend to private car users.
Due to much higher price tags on them, hybrid cars encountered cold shoulders in thriving domestic car market over the past few years.
While introducing mature hybrid products into the public transportation sector before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, China also adjusted its research and development plans as well as car industry policies in terms of spreading fuel-efficient engines and vehicles.
Long trained as a technologist in a German auto company, Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang is an avid advocate for hybrid cars, and his ministry plays a key role in technological upgrading.
Chery drives to Argentina for new plant
2009-02-03 13:11:19 Print
BEIJING, Feb. 3 -- China's Chery Automobile Co will team up with its foreign partners to build a new plant in Argentina to increase production capacity by five-folds within four years.
Up to 500 million U.S. dollars will be invested by 2012 in the new plant which will be managed by Chery Socma, a venture between Chery, Argentina's Socma Group and Oferol of Uruguay, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, citing the Argentinian government.
The factory will be able to turn out 50,000 vehicles annually by 2011. The production capacity will eventually rise to 100,000 units annually by 2012, most of which will be exported to Brazil, the state media added.
Asked about the reason for the investment against the backdrop of a global financial crisis, Chery spokesman Jin Yibo said Monday: "The project is supported by the local government because it is expected to help create jobs and boost the auto industry development in Argentina."
Argentina saw a 47.3-percent plunge in auto output in December to 26,720 units from a year earlier, forcing car makers, including Japan's Honda Motor Co, to delay plans for new plants, Xinhua said.
But some analysts believed that there is still room overseas for Chinese-branded vehicles which are price competitive.
Chery Socma, the 12-million-dollars venture, started production in Uruguay in March last year with an annual turnover of 20,000 units. It assembled and exported Chery's Tiggo sport utility vehicles to Argentina.
Chery, the nation's fourth-largest auto maker, has set up eight plants overseas to expand its presence in southeast Asia, Latin America and east Europe. To achieve exports of 600,000 units by 2010, Chery said earlier that it aims to set up 14 overseas plants by then.
It received a 10-billion-yuan loan (US$1.47 billion) from China's Export and Import Bank at the end of last year to fund its global growth.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
China's Auto Sales Surpass the U.S. in January
It's no breaking news that the U.S. auto industry hasn't had the best couple of months. This January auto sales hit their lowest level in 26 years, dropping 37 percent to selling only about 650,000 vehicles. But that doesn't mean every nation is having a severe slump in car sales.
While official numbers won't be out until next week, many estimate that 790,000 cars were sold in China during the same month, indicating the first time in history that the number of car sales in China topped those in the U.S.
This month's results weren't just a fluke, however. Mike DiGiovanni, the executive director of General Motors predicts that China's auto sales will be about 10.7 million, versus just 9.8 million within the U.S.
China's growing auto market presents a strong opportunity for struggling U.S. automakers like GM, which sold 1.09 million vehicles last year in China, and expects to see strong China sales next year, even in the struggling economy.
With a population topping 1.3 billion, and millions of aspiring car owners, there's huge potential to see growing car sales in China. The bailout package proposed in late 2008 has billions allocated to infrastructure development, including constructing many roads, potentially expanding the number of citizens who would benefit from car ownership.
The government has also invested about $1.5 billion dollars into improving car technology, in order to make vehicles more fuel efficient, and is now providing tax incentives to those who plan to purchase vehicles.
At the same time, a slowing economy, excessive traffic in many major cities, and severe pollution concerns still deter many potential car owners.
Despite these issues, the potential for future automotive sales in China remains very bright in the long term, as millions look forward to owning their own car.
It's no breaking news that the U.S. auto industry hasn't had the best couple of months. This January auto sales hit their lowest level in 26 years, dropping 37 percent to selling only about 650,000 vehicles. But that doesn't mean every nation is having a severe slump in car sales.
While official numbers won't be out until next week, many estimate that 790,000 cars were sold in China during the same month, indicating the first time in history that the number of car sales in China topped those in the U.S.
This month's results weren't just a fluke, however. Mike DiGiovanni, the executive director of General Motors predicts that China's auto sales will be about 10.7 million, versus just 9.8 million within the U.S.
China's growing auto market presents a strong opportunity for struggling U.S. automakers like GM, which sold 1.09 million vehicles last year in China, and expects to see strong China sales next year, even in the struggling economy.
With a population topping 1.3 billion, and millions of aspiring car owners, there's huge potential to see growing car sales in China. The bailout package proposed in late 2008 has billions allocated to infrastructure development, including constructing many roads, potentially expanding the number of citizens who would benefit from car ownership.
The government has also invested about $1.5 billion dollars into improving car technology, in order to make vehicles more fuel efficient, and is now providing tax incentives to those who plan to purchase vehicles.
At the same time, a slowing economy, excessive traffic in many major cities, and severe pollution concerns still deter many potential car owners.
Despite these issues, the potential for future automotive sales in China remains very bright in the long term, as millions look forward to owning their own car.
GREEN:
Wang Chuanfu, BYD F3DM Hybrid - China Is Electric
By Don Sherman
Photography by Joe Vaughn
At 28, he founded the world's largest supplier of cell-phone batteries. His company also supplies low-cost batteries for One Laptop Per Child. In 2003, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu, then 36, bought a car company, gave it the BYD name, set up an R&D team of 3000 engineers, and on December 15, 2008, put the world's first plug-in electric car on the market.
"Many people have asked me why I bought a car company. I have two reasons. First, the market is huge in China. Second, we have the world's battery technology. We believe the age of gasoline will pass and power will come from new energy sources."
"In this industry, everyone thinks EVs will be prevalent in 2030. But at BYD, we believe it's within ten years. Inside of ten years, the dual-mode hybrid will be worldwide."
"We could make a car like the Tata Nano, but there's no market for such a car in China because it is too basic - no power steering, no rear hatch."
"We are targeting both the F3DM [Toyota Corolla-size compact, out now] and F6DM [Camry-size sedan, due later this year] for the U.S. market. It takes about three to five years, and during that period we have to finish homologation and marketing research and set up a distribution relationship."
BYD Wants to Build Your Hybrid
At last year's Detroit auto show, BYD Auto's chairman and president, Wang Chuanfu, presented his firm's prototype F6DM plug-in hybrid sedan to reporters. The yawns of disinterest were widespread. Later, Wang bragged that BYD's "nuclear weapon may change the world."
BYD Auto is a subsidiary of BYD Company Limited, the world's leading producer of nickel-metal-hydride batteries and lithium-ion cell-phone batteries.
Last December, BYD armed its weapon's fuse by introducing the world's first plug-in hybrid for sale (initially) to government agencies and corporate bigwigs. Costing approximately $22,000 in China, the F3DM (pictured) - which is about the size of a Toyota Corolla - has a 60-mile pure-electric range and a top speed of about 100 mph, according to its manufacturer. A full recharge of its lithium-ion batteries takes seven or more hours, but a special charging station can allegedly replenish half of the car's electrical energy in only ten minutes.
Although the DM in the car's name stands for Dual Mode, there are actually three propulsion alternatives: as a battery-powered electric vehicle, with a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine driving a generator for extended range, or with both the electric motor and the engine powering the front wheels in parallel-hybrid fashion.
BYD's ambitious plans include 350,000 total sales this year (double the number of cars delivered last year), a new pure-electric model, and entry into the U.S. market next year.
Now, when Wang speaks, reporters listen with rapt attention.