Posts from ‘China’
9 Electric Car Companies To Watch
Folks who actually make money playing the stock market will tell you that the real opportunity to turn a profit trading equities comes not when things are calm, but during periods of volatility. This principal is more or less true in the world of retail, as well.
Future Car: 2021 Nissan Xterra
The 2019 Nissan Terra debuted at this year’s Beijing Auto Show. Look for a possible U.S.-market variant of the Terra to be imported for the 2021 model year.
Is the U.S. market ready for a return of the old-school body-on-frame midsize SUV? Ford seems to think so, as a revived version of the company’s Bronco SUV is being readied for a 2020 model-year debut.
Taurus is one of the models Ford is planning to phase out.
To truly excite the passions of the American automotive media, you need news that strikes close to home. International news, no matter how significant, is generally met with indifference among many U.S. auto writers. General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra and the GM board of directors opt out of the European, Indian, and South African new-vehicle markets—yawn. The Chinese government mandates that 12 percent of new vehicles retailed in China (the world’s largest new-car market) must be pure electric by 2020—whatever.
Beijing Auto Show: 2019 Lexus ES
2019 Lexus ES
After years of catering solely to buyers in the market for cushy luxury, the Lexus ES is ready to show some teeth. The seventh-generation ES revealed at the Beijing Auto Show will be the first available in an F Sport version.
2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In in Crystal White Tricoat (a $500 option)
2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In
Class: Premium Large Car
Miles driven: 288
Fuel used: 8.4 gallons
2016 Volvo S60 Inscription Platinum
2016 Volvo S60 Inscription Platinum (FWD)
Class: Premium Midsize Car
Miles Driven: 171
Fuel Used: 8.0 gallons
2013 Buick Park Avenue
Making sense of Chinese auto sales is a fairly complex proposition. While sales of new vehicles in China far outpace those in the U.S. (24.6 million units to 17.2 million, respectively), the average transaction price in the U.S. is substantially higher ($35,000 versus $21,000). What that suggests is that selling cars in the U.S. is currently a far more profitable operation, but that the potential to build in an audience in China is undeniable. Chinese Cars.
Chinese truck builder Foton was established in 1998 and produces primarily heavy-duty vehicles for its home market.
As a professional car guy and amateur curmudgeon and skeptic, I miss the early years of the 21st century. I miss them, because those were the years that Chinese automakers were making the most noise about selling cars in the U.S.
Journalists who attended auto shows in the early 2000s where companies such as Brilliance, BYD, Geely, and Changfeng Liebao presented their wares will recall with glee spectacular U.S. sales projections and shockingly tone-deaf video presentations.
Volvo applies its Cross Country formula to the S60 sedan for 2016 to come up with–you guessed it–the S60 Cross Country. It’s joined by a longer version of the base sedan that gives new meaning to the Inscription designation.
Although Volvo has used the “Cross Country” and “Inscription” monikers in the past, they’ve never been used like this.
Cross Country has long been applied to an SUV-flavored version of a Volvo station wagon, while Inscription has been used of late to denote a high-end trim level. But Volvo will now be using those established names in a somewhat different manner. New for 2016 are the S60 Cross Country, which applies the designation’s traditional formula to a raised S60 sedan, and the S60 Inscription, which “expands” the use of that name to indicate a stretched S60 sedan.
First Spin: 2016 Volvo XC90
Volvo’s XC90 midsize SUV sees its first redesign since its 2002 introduction, an eternity in today’s market. The 2016 model comes standard with all-wheel drive, gets new features and more power, and adds a performance-oriented hybrid version. Prices start at about $50,000, with hybrids coming in at about $70,000.
The redesigned XC90 is an unusually important vehicle for Volvo. Not only is it the first all-new model to be released after the company’s 2010 purchase by Geely of China, but it sets the stage as the first of eight new or redesigned vehicles due from the Swedish manufacturer over the next four years. That’s a heavy load to carry, but the XC90 shoulders the burden well.
