Asia

Renault will increase dealer rebates in China as market demand slows

Jan. 30, 2015 11:32 CET

Renault will give its China dealers more rebates and moderate sales targets as demand cools. Sales growth of passenger vehicles in China will probably slow to 8 percent this year from 10 percent in 2014, according to an industry association....
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Mercedes plans to move R-class production to AM General in Indiana

10:18 am U.S. ET | Jan. 27, 2015

Mercedes-Benz plans to shift production of the R-class crossover from its Alabama plant to contract manufacturer AM General in Indiana this summer. The German automaker said it needed to free up space in its assembly operations near Tuscaloosa, Ala....
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Toyota to move to merit-based pay for Japan factory workers, report says

8:40 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015

Toyota will change the way it pays factory workers, focusing on their performance rather than their seniority, the Nikkei reported on Monday....
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Audi to recall 80,000 vehicles; China hit hardest

Jan. 26, 2015 12:23 CET

Audi says it will recall 80,000 vehicles globally due to fuel-injection issues, adding that about 35,000 are from China. The cars, which were made between April 2011 and April 2012, include various A4, A5, A6, A7 and Q7 models, Chinese authorities said....
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VW reaches pact with China dealers

Jan. 26, 2015 11:24 CET

VW says it has reached an agreement with its dealers in China and pledged to continue setting reasonable sales targets to ensure a financially sound distribution network as demand in the world's biggest auto market slows....
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YANG JIANG

China dealers fight back as stock piles up

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015

The China Automobile Dealers Association has been a weak and loose organization. Its main job was to produce an annual list of China's top 100 dealerships and to hold a few national conferences for dealers....
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Porsche recalls 13,500 Cayennes, Panameras to fix fuel-seal flaw

7:46 am U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015

Porsche is recalling about 13,500 vehicles worldwide to fix a seal that may allow fuel to evaporate....
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Toyota may lose global sales lead to VW without new China strategy

Jan. 22, 2015 11:11 CET

Toyota remained the best-selling automaker worldwide in 2014 ahead of VW and GM, but the company may lose the sales crown this year as it falls behind in China, where rivals are expanding fast....
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Chinese aerospace firm pursues acquisition of U.S. supplier Henniges, report says

6:34 am U.S. ET | Jan. 22, 2015

AVIC, China's biggest aerospace company, is among bidders pursuing an acquisition of US auto supplier Henniges Automotive Holdings, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. AVIC could pay $1 billion for the acquisition, Bloomberg reported....
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Kia needs India plant to offset slowing sales in Russia and China, report says

Jan. 22, 2015 12:10 CET

Kia needs to set up a factory in India to tap growth in the fast-growing market and offset slowing sales in Russia and China, a Korean newspaper reported the automaker's CEO as saying. India may become the world's No. 3 auto market by next year....
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Toyota supplier weighs raising airbag capacity as demand climbs

9:35 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015

Toyoda Gosei, a supplier part-owned by Toyota, is considering increasing its capacity for making airbags to cater to expanding global demand for the safety devices....
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Toyota, Honda in talks to put 6,000 fuel cell cars on road in Tokyo by 2020 Olympics

6:19 am U.S. ET | Jan. 20, 2015

Japan's capital will build 35 stations to fuel hydrogen-based fuel cell vehicles and is in negotiations with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. to put 6,000 hydrogen cars on its roads by 2020....
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Renault plans big investment to catch rivals in China

Jan. 19, 2015 17:21 CET

Renault will make "massive investments" in China, where it sees its market share rising as high as 6 percent after the company ramps up sales of locally built vehicles in the world's biggest car market....
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Japan's Daicel to lift inflator output after Takata recalls

8:48 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 19, 2015

Japan's Daicel said it would boost production of airbag inflators to meet demand for the component at the heart of rival Takata's quality problems, which have led to the recall of more than 24 million vehicles worldwide since 2008....
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Subaru puts China production effort on hold as car demand wanes

10:42 am U.S. ET | Jan. 19, 2015

Fuji Heavy Industries, the only Japanese automaker without Chinese government approval to start a joint venture, put efforts to build cars on hold in the country, where demand growth is slowing....
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Daimler will extend contract of China division boss, paper says

Jan. 18, 2015 10:41 CET

Daimler will extend the contract of the head of its China division, Hubertus Troska, according to a newspaper report. Troska is said to be a potential successor to CEO Dieter Zetsche....
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THE TAKATA RECALL CRISIS

Takata recalls prompt Japan to consider supplier regulations

6:34 am U.S. ET | Jan. 16, 2015

Japanese Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta said today his ministry was considering whether to revise existing laws to beef up oversight of auto suppliers in the wake of massive recalls of Takata airbags....
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Volvo may expand export markets for China-built cars beyond U.S.

Jan. 16, 2015 11:36 CET

Volvo, which will start shipping the S60L sedan to the U.S. later this year, says it could add additional export markets in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere. The automaker may also consider future exports of a large china-built sedan, dubbed internally as the S90....
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Renault faces dealer criticism over China strategy

Jan. 15, 2015 14:41 CET

Renault has become the latest foreign carmaker to be targeted by China dealers in disputes over who should bear the brunt of a market slowdown. BMW was persuaded earlier this month to pay $824 million in subsidies to its local dealers....
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Toyota raises ante on hydrogen; Japan to ease fuel cell regulation

6:56 am U.S. ET | Jan. 15, 2015

Japan will introduce self-service hydrogen filling stations and ease other regulations related to fuel cells to promote the technology, which carmakers including Toyota are using in vehicles....
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Toyota to build more SUVs as U.S. demand provides edge over VW

7:56 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015

Toyota will build more SUVs this year at factories in Japan and Canada to meet rising US demand, the carmaker’s top North American executive said....
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PSA's China sales boom may mark industry shift in favor of mass-market carmakers

Jan. 14, 2015 11:45 CET

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's 32 percent increase in China vehicle sales last year, almost double the 17 percent BMW achieved, may mark an industry shift in favor of mass-market carmakers over premium brands in a cooling market....
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Aston Martin hires former Porsche exec as China boss

Jan. 13, 2015 15:45 CET

Aston Martin has hired former Porsche and BMW executive Michael Mingshan Peng as its new China boss as the UK sports-car maker seeks to boost sales in the country....
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AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE E-MAGAZINE

Mercedes increases emphasis on China in bid to pass BMW, Audi

Jan. 13, 2015 06:01 CET

Mercedes could become the first luxury carmaker to launch new models in China before rolling them out in Europe and the U.S. after it strengthened its local r&d operations in a bid to narrow the gap with Audi and BMW in the market....
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