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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Volvo Just like the long-wheelbase Audi A4L that debuted in China yesterday, Volvo has just rolled out a longer S80 with an extended wheelbase designed to suit Chinese premium car buyers' tastes. Unlike the Audi, we have a profile shot to show the extra length of the Volvo S80L. Volvo entered the Chinese market with its locally built S40 in 2006. Now it has made the decision to produce this market-specific version of the brand's flagship sedan in China, as well. The S80L gets stretched a full 14 cm (5.5 inches), and all of that extra space goes into the rear seat area. You have to wonder if these longer versions will eventually make their way into other markets. One additional note: While most of the commenters on the Audi A4L post spent their time arguing about racism, stereotypes, average heights and nutrition, we want this one to be all about the car. So just to be clear, nobody was saying that all Chinese people are looking for additional...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Audi Click above for more high-res pics of the Audi A4L Audi has just introduced a long-wheelbase version of its new A4 for the Chinese market, joining the long-wheelbase A6 that has been available in China since 2000. While many automakers have recognized the Chinese desire to have a little extra length, this is the first time a vehicle in this size class has been elongated. Labeled as a premium B segment car in China, the Audi A4L's wheelbase is 2.36 inches longer than the standard A4, most of which gets added to rear-seat legroom. The A4L will be built in Changchun, China and will feature a chassis specially designed to handle the sometimes-rough Chinese road conditions. Engine options will be the 180-hp 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder and the 265-hp 3.2 FSI six-cylinder. The Audi A4L will debut at the Guangzhou Motor Show on November 18, and should be in Chinese dealerships by January 2009. Full press release after the jump. Gallery: 2009 Audi A4L [Source...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Hyundai Click above for a high-res gallery of the BHMC Sonata The changes to the Chinese-market Hyundai Sonata are not enough to raise the roomy sedan's profile above handsome anonycar, but it's encouraging to see Hyundai figuring out freshening cycles without bringing the weird. This Sonata has been facelifted by BHMC, Hyundai's Chinese joint venture, and the car in the pictures is either a pre-production model, or a Monday-morning car, as it's missing some window trim. The tweaked nose and rump echo the styling of so many cars on the road that you can just pick your favorite brand as the one Hyundai copied. Derivative? Maybe, or it may just be that there's only so many places to go with a modest refresh of a modestly styled car. The interior also garnered some attention, getting adjustments to the seat and dashboard trim in the bright, airy cockpit. The design may not be quirky enough to please some, but a handsomely styled car...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Hyundai Click above for a high-res gallery of the BHMC Sonata The changes to the Chinese-market Hyundai Sonata are not enough to raise the roomy sedan's profile above handsome anonycar, but it's encouraging to see Hyundai figuring out freshening cycles without bringing the weird. This Sonata has been facelifted by BHMC, Hyundai's Chinese joint venture, and the car in the pictures is either a pre-production model, or a Monday-morning car, as it's missing some window trim. The tweaked nose and rump echo the styling of so many cars on the road that you can just pick your favorite brand as the one Hyundai copied. Derivative? Maybe, or it may just be that there's only so many places to go with a modest refresh of a modestly styled car. The interior also garnered some attention, getting adjustments to the seat and dashboard trim in the bright, airy cockpit. The design may not be quirky enough to please some, but a handsomely styled car...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Buick Click above for high-res gallery of Buick's new Regal in China General Motors has unveiled China's new Buick Regal (or at least official pics of it have found their way onto the web), and save for some cosmetic changes, it's basically a badge-engineered Opel Insignia . That's by design though, as Buick is GM's top-selling brand in the land of the great wall, and the new mid-size sedan from Opel has the best chance for success donning a Buick logo. Comparing the Insignia and the new Buick Regal back to back shows that GM simply popped out the Opel grille, got rid of the lightning logo and retrofitted Buick badging for Buick-loving Chinese. The Opel Insignia is a head-turning sedan as it is, and after looking at these official Regal pics, it doesn't look half bad with a Buick grille, either. The new Regal is scheduled to hit Chinese showrooms in December will arrive with a choice of two powertrains: a 164-hp 2.4L four-cylinder...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Roewe Remember the Roewe 550 ? Pretty nice-looking ride, especially for a Chinese car, considering some of the freakishly awful stuff that comes out of the country. SAIC apparently realizes that in terms of name recognition, MG > Roewe. Case in point: the introduction of the 550 and 750 sedans in Chile, where both cars are now being sold under the MG moniker by importer SK Bergé . The two four-doors will reportedly be joined by the TF roadster in November, but despite the traditionally British nameplate adorning their respective bonnets, all three are made in China. You know, like everything else. You can see a gallery of the brand's launch event in Santiago here . Thanks for the tip, Potts. [Sources: Autoblog Spanish , Austin Rover Online ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sedans/Saloons , China , Buick , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for more images of the 2010 Buick Regal Two weeks ago we showed you spy shots of a 2010 Buick Regal caught testing in China that appeared to be nothing more than a rebadged Opel Insignia . (As you may recall, we'll be getting the 2010 Buick LaCrosse in the States.) All three of those cars are based on GM's Epsilon II platform, which we will also likely see under future vehicles from Saab, Saturn and Chevrolet. The Buick brand, and the popular Regal, are doing very well in China. As such, it's no surprise to see these latest spy shots of the barely disguised four-door Regal dipped in red, and it looks great despite being a badge job. The production version is expected to debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November. Thanks for the tip, Jason! Gallery: 2010 Buick Regal - Spy Shots in Red [Source: China Car Times ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sedans/Saloons , China , Buick Click above for high-res gallery of 2010 Buick Regal spy shots from China We don't feel slighted anymore over the Chinese getting what appears to be a pretty nice looking Buick Regal, not after those spy shots from earlier today showing the 2010 Buick LaCrosse that we'll get in the U.S. After all, the Chinese Buick Regal appears to be not much more than an Opel Insignia with a new front end based on these spy shots, while the U.S.-spec Buick Lacrosse gets an entirely unique interior and exterior design. All three cars - the Opel Insignia, Chinese market Buick Regal and U.S. market Buick LaCrosse - are based General Motors' Epsilon II platform. Of course, the Buick brand is much bigger in China than here in the U.S., and the redesigned Regal, one of the cars that helped the brand gain popularity early on in China, looks ready to continue that trend. Thanks for the tip everyone! Gallery: 2010 Buick Regal - spy shots [Source...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , China , Green , Chery As it currently stands, gas in China costs about half what it does in most other countries, and the government spends billions to keep it that way. This being the case, expensive hybrids like the Toyota Prius don't sell in very large numbers. Still, there are a number of analysts who predict that gas will go up in China and that cheaper hybrids could begin to get a foot-hold in the Chinese market. To test the hybrid waters, Chery has introduced its home market to a new inexpensive mild hybrid built off its own A5 platform. Like some of the hybrids from General Motors, the A5 adds a belt-driven starter/generator that runs on just 12 volts and allows for stop/start functionality for its 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. Chery tested the vehicle during the Olympic games and is apparently now ready to begin selling its first hybrid to retail customers in China at about a third of the cost of the Prius. With pricing...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , China , Honda , India Honda is set to release the fourth-generation of its City subcompact and these newest spy shots show that development is well underway. The previous generation had been based on the Honda Jazz , known in the U.S. as the Fit, but the new model moves away from that platform and grows slightly larger in the process. Expect to see either a 1.3- or 1.5-liter i-VTEC SOHC engine underhood, along with either a standard manual tranny or a CVT automatic with seven preset ratios controlled through steering wheel-mounted paddles. Although Honda has no plans -- as far as we know -- to bring the City to the States, the Fit model has managed to post a huge 73% increase in sales this year. Considering how hot fuel-sipping little cars are these days in the U.S. market, Honda could certainly do worse than to offer this attractive new subcompact car in the States. [Source: paultan.org ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Plants/Manufacturing , Hatchbacks , Ford Click above for high-res gallery of the Fiesta beginning production Ford has finally begun production of the all-new 2009 Ford Fiesta in Cologne, Germany, today. After an investment of 455 million Euros (about $674 million) to restructure and modernize the plant, Ford is expecting its 4,000 employees will be able to roll out 148,000 Fiestas by the end of the year, which is an impressive 1,900 cars each day). In January 2009, the Valencia plant in Spain will also begin building the Fiesta. There are also production plants in China, Thailand, and Mexico that are tooling up for the newest small Ford in order to meet worldwide demand, which finally includes the U.S. where it will also be sold in both sedan and hatchback configurations around 2010. Based on the Verve concept , the new compact is exactly what the automaker needs in today's efficiency-conscience marketplace, and its stylish enough not to be considered...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Volkswagen , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for high-res gallery of the VW Lavida for China Shanghai Volkswagen developed the new VW Lavida in China, for China. Now it's made its big debut before the home-market audience in Beijing. Stylistically, the made-in-China design looks oddly dated, quite frankly. The petal-shaped head- and taillamps look like something you might find on a 1990's Korean import and not a newly-minted VW, regardless of origin. The Lavida's positioned below the new VW Bora (also introduced in Beijing), with a shorter overall length (around 3 inches) but an identical wheelbase, so passenger comfort should be around the same as the larger car. The interior is a blend of familiar VW partsbin stuff with elements that just seem a little odd-looking in a VeeDub, like the silver audio head unit and the silver HVAC knobs set against a healthy dose of woodgrain trim. Power comes from 4-cylinder engines displacing 1.6L or 2.0L...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Nissan , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for high-res gallery of the Nissan Teana and Teana XV Back in October of last year, Nissan unveiled the Intima concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show . The large front-wheel-drive sedan previewed the styling for the new Teana (above, dark) and more luxurious Teana XV (above, light) that Nissan and its Chinese joint-venture partner Dongfeng debuted at the Auto China show in Beijing. The connection between concept and production vehicle is strong here, with the windswept front fasica, large greenhouse, and kink at the bottom of the C-pillar coming over intact. The flush grille, LED headlamps and suicide doors, however, did not. The Teana will have a strong link to the western world thanks to the platform on which it rides, which is also shared with the Altima, Maxima and Murano. Power is provided by Nissan's award-winning 3.5L VQ V6 engine, which is mated to a CVT transmission for the Chinese. It appears that a...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Sedans/Saloons , China , Misc. Auto Shows Click image for a gallery of the Geely TX4 LTC Geely builds the LTI TX4 under license, and naturally, it's showing off the popular London Taxi at its display in Beijing. The standard TX4's kind of vanilla though, so to grab showgoers' attention, the automaker has also plopped an electric blue "hot rod" version called the TX4 LTC in its display, as well. It might more appropriately described as a " not rod", since the TX4's stock 2.4L Euro IV-compliant diesel remains underhood. For maximum visual effect, Geely appears to have raided the Chinese equivalent of a Pep Boys, adding a faux dual exhaust, bolting on truck running boards and fitting six-spoke wheels that might be just a smidge oversized. Call us crazy, but it looks like turning could become a bit of an adventure. Inside, the passenger compartment gets a white interior and possibly some stereo upgrades along with a nice photo...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , China , Misc. Auto Shows , Roewe Click above for high-res gallery of the Roewe 550 Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation debuted the Roewe 550 over the weekend at the Auto China show in Beijing, and it joins the 750 in a lineup that was designed and engineered entirely in Britain. For those who don't remember the story, a little history lesson might be in order. SAIC fought long and hard against cross-town Chinese rival Nanjing for the right to purchase the bankrupt English automotive brand Rover. SAIC won the battle, but didn't secure the rights to the Rover name. Hence, Roewe was born and the 750 debuted as a rebadged version of the Rover 75. The Roewe 550, however, is its own car with a design that doesn't carry forward any obvious cues from Rover. Based on a shortened version of the Rover 75 platform, the 550 was reportedly being developed before MG Rover bit the dust in 2005, and SAIC has made sure to keep the car palatable to European tastes...
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