REPORT: Obama OKs more short-term aid for GM and Chrysler, Henderson to replace Wagoner

President Barack Obama has been busy this weekend when it comes to the auto industry. Following reports that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is stepping down at the President's request comes news that the Commander in Chief has decided to grant both GM and Chrysler additional short-term aid.

The Detroit News is reporting that the President told four members of Congress from Michigan in a conference call Sunday night that the government would give GM additional aid for 60 days to complete its restructuring and Chrysler gets 30 days to finalize its partnership with Fiat. The exact amounts were not specified, but will likely be revealed early this week as the deadline for each automaker to update the government on its restructuring plan arrives on Tuesday, March 31.

An unnamed source familiar with the call also confirmed that GM's current Chief Operating Officer, will replace Wagoner as the automaker's CEO.

Jilin plans to produce 1 mln vehicles in '09

Shanghai, February 26 (Gasgoo.com) Northeastern China's Jilin province, home to Chinese auto giant FAW Group, has announced a series of auto industry goals for this year, including its plans to produce 1 million vehicles, to achieve auto sales revenue of 240 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) and total profits of 14 billion yuan, xinhuanet.com reported today.

In its effort to reach the target of making 1 million vehicles in 2009, Jilin province will issue favorable policies to support the development of FAW Group, said the auto industry office of the province. Some policies will work together with the auto industry restructuring plans recently released the central government, which would encourage auto giants SAIC and FAW to expand through mergers.

In addition, Jilin province will take measures to boost vehicle output and sales this year by speeding up the development of 100 major auto-related companies and 100 major auto projects. More than half of the 100 auto and auto-parts projects are expected to start operation and deliver products to the market this year.


The list of its auto development projects in 2009 shows that this year Jilin province will promote the production of the Corolla sedan model at newly built Changchun FAW Fengyue Auto Co., the upgrades of FAW-VW joint venture's first factory, the expansion of FAW Car Co.'s Besturn sedan series, the production of FAW Jilin Car Co.'s small cars and mini-cars.

Jilin province will also support auto-parts projects, such as FAW VW's EA111 engine, Qiming auto electronics, Dongguang clutch and brake assembly, Xuyang sedan chair assembly.

Auto industry is the mainstay industry of Jilin province. Its capital city Changchun now has about 320 auto and auto-parts manufacturers. With an annual output capacity of 1.8 million units scheduled for the next five years, Jilin province will possibly become China's largest auto production base by 2014.

Great Wall to lift sedan sales 800% in '09

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. sold 15,000 vehicles in January 2009, hitting a record high in its monthly sales. Building on this beginning success, the company aims to boost its vehicle sales 60% to 200,000 units this year, including 80,000 sedans, up 800% from last year, said China Youth Daily today.

As China's largest maker and exporter of pickups and SUVs, Great Wall Motor saw its vehicle sales rise up 10% to 125,000 vehicles in 2008, including 55,000 pickups, 60,000 SUVs and 10,000 sedans. And in January 2009, the company achieved its record-high monthly sales of 15,000 units, which included 3,600 units of the newly launched Florid sedan model and 5,600 units of its flagship Hover SUV model.

Great Wall Motor is a new comer to the sedan market. Its first sedan model Great Wall Peri (GWPeri) didn't sell well after its launch in March 2008 and caused a lawsuit as it looked like a copycat of Fiat's Panda minicar. Then in November, Great Wall released another sedan model Florid, which achieved huge sales unexpectedly and thus brought great hope to the company's expansion into the sedan market.



The company has planned to launch 13 new vehicle models (including 4 sedan models and 5 SUV models) in 2009 to boost its sales growth. The 1.5L Coolbear, Great Wall's third sedan model, will hit the market in March, and its 1.3L and 1.5L Cross sedans will come to the market in May and August. It will launch another new sedan model codenamed CH031 in October.

The automaker will also vie for the 1.3L, 1.5L, and 2.0L small-sized SUV segments, with a batch of new SUV models designed to hit the market in succession this year. In addition, it plans to debut the 2.0L, 2.4L, and 2.5L Hover H3 in April and June.

While continuing to maintain its growth in the pickup and SUV markets, Great Wall Motor aims to sell 200,000 sedans annually by 2011. The company hopes to become of the top three sellers in China's A0-class sedan market in three years.

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. sold 15,000 vehicles in January 2009, hitting a record high in its monthly sales. Building on this beginning success, the company aims to boost its vehicle sales 60% to 200,000 units this year, including 80,000 sedans, up 800% from last year, said China Youth Daily today.

As China's largest maker and exporter of pickups and SUVs, Great Wall Motor saw its vehicle sales rise up 10% to 125,000 vehicles in 2008, including 55,000 pickups, 60,000 SUVs and 10,000 sedans. And in January 2009, the company achieved its record-high monthly sales of 15,000 units, which included 3,600 units of the newly launched Florid sedan model and 5,600 units of its flagship Hover SUV model.

Great Wall Motor is a new comer to the sedan market. Its first sedan model Great Wall Peri (GWPeri) didn't sell well after its launch in March 2008 and caused a lawsuit as it looked like a copycat of Fiat's Panda minicar. Then in November, Great Wall released another sedan model Florid, which achieved huge sales unexpectedly and thus brought great hope to the company's expansion into the sedan market.



The company has planned to launch 13 new vehicle models (including 4 sedan models and 5 SUV models) in 2009 to boost its sales growth. The 1.5L Coolbear, Great Wall's third sedan model, will hit the market in March, and its 1.3L and 1.5L Cross sedans will come to the market in May and August. It will launch another new sedan model codenamed CH031 in October.

The automaker will also vie for the 1.3L, 1.5L, and 2.0L small-sized SUV segments, with a batch of new SUV models designed to hit the market in succession this year. In addition, it plans to debut the 2.0L, 2.4L, and 2.5L Hover H3 in April and June.

While continuing to maintain its growth in the pickup and SUV markets, Great Wall Motor aims to sell 200,000 sedans annually by 2011. The company hopes to become of the top three sellers in China's A0-class sedan market in three years.

China to unveil auto sector stimulus plan details

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Following last month's release of its auto sector support package, the Chinese government is set to unveil related details of the auto industry stimulus plan by this weekend, Shanghai Securities News reported today, citing an industry official.

Dong Yang, deputy director of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), said that the full text of the previously released stimulus plan for China's auto sector will be unveiled on Feb 13 or so. The details of the plan will cover five major aspects: cultivating the auto market demand, speeding up auto industry restructuring, boosting carmakers' technological upgrades, carrying out new-energy vehicle strategies, and supporting self-developed brands.

A highlight of the detailed plan will be the government's urging of the auto sector's restructuring and mergers. The CAAM official said that the related details of the plan will give guidelines on solving the various problems that may arise from the auto industry restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, such as fund-raising, tax paying, assets transfer and staff replacement.

The stimulus plan will also encourage consumers to buy low-emission vehicles and will offer some favorable polices, like tax cuts, for purchases of low-emission and energy-efficient cars. In addition, the government will also provide financial aid for domestic automakers and encourage them to develop own-brand, eco-friendly, hybrid vehicle models.

Since the Chinese government issued the auto sector incentives in mid-January, the auto market demand and sales in China have been considerably boosted. Last month, China sold 730,000 vehicles, which exceeded the 656,976 units sold in the U.S., making the Middle Kingdom the world's largest auto market in monthly sales for the first time.

SAIC to pursue normal business with Ssangyong

Shanghai, February 12 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.(SAIC), China's largest automaker, said it would continue to work with its South Korean subsidiary, SsangYong Motor, following the court approval for the company's bankruptcy protection plan, China Daily reported Wednesday.

A said spokesman told the newspaper that "we respect and understand the rule by the court. It is a decision based on all related interested parties in line with the South Korean law."

SAIC confirmed earlier this week that the Seoul Central District Court had approved the bankruptcy protection application from Ssangyong. The decision marks the ending of Shanghai-based SAIC's four-year control of Ssangyong, although it will retain its shareholding.

SAIC also said that it hoped the two executives appointed by the court will map out and execute a "practical business revival plan" to put Ssangyong back on track as soon as possible.

Seperately, S. Korean media reported on Tuesday that all Chinese staff of Ssangyong Motor including about 10 executives has returned to China and all 30 Korean executives resigned on the previous day.

China's bio-fuel industry to see moderate growth

Ecological, energy, and economic concerns urge China to push the bio-fuel industry forward. The Chinese bio-fuel industry is divided into two sub-segments, the bio-ethanol sector and the bio-diesel sector. In terms of market size, China has the third largest bio-fuel market around the globe, only after the U.S. and Brazil.

China was estimated to produce more than 360 kt of bio-diesel and 1,620 kt of bio-ethanol in 2008. During the past eight years, China has primarily established a legal and administrative system for bio-fuel, especially for the bio-ethanol industry.

According to Frank Xie, Frost & Sullivan's China Consultant for Chemicals, Material & Food Practice, the global financial crisis has major impacts on the Chinese bio-fuel industry in the short term.

"Growth slowdown of downstream industries has resulted in the sharp decrease in bio-fuel demand. China's logistics industry experienced a great slump in 2008. Economic uncertainties also brought about stagnated growth in the Chinese passenger vehicle market in the fourth quarter of 2008. The sharp decline in crude oil price also lowers the price of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel products making the situation tougher in China," he said.

Xie says, "For 2009 and 2010, the shortage of feedstock remains the top challenge for the Chinese bio-fuel industry. However, most of these shortages can be resolved as more entrepreneurs join the market in the forecasted period. For bio-ethanol, with feedstock transitions from corn and wheat to non-food celluloses and potatoes, all major bio-ethanol manufacturers are forced to utilize alternative feedstock. For bio-diesel, the unstable supply of waste cooking oil may threaten the continuity of bio-diesel production. Only some leading bio-diesel producers have effectively managed the supply chain to ensure the stable supply of feedstock."

According to Xie, government support is vital for the healthy development of the Chinese bio-fuel industry. Subsidies, tax exemptions, or allowances help increase the competitiveness of producers as well as ensure their continuous development.

US consumer may buy Chinese car at Wal-Mart

For years, we’ve been hearing that Chinese cars are on their way, and despite fair skepticism there have been in-roads. Chinese companies like BYD (Build Your Dreams) have debuted plug-in vehicles at American auto shows, while the Mexican company GS Motors has imported Chinese cars to sell in Mexico.

Now the industry must brace for the next big idea, which is to sell low-cost Chinese vehicles at big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco. This is how GS Motors plans to sell the F1 Hatchback in Mexico (for a bargain price of $5,500).

BYD wants to bring over the plug-in model it showed off at the Detroit auto show as early as next year, and GS CEO Kathleen Ligocki said she believes that within five years consumers will be able to buy a Chinese vehicle at their local Wal-Mart.

The global economic crisis may slow some of this down (and many of China’s 80-plus auto companies are bound to go under), but the plan has been laid as far as many of the major players are concerned.

GM's Hummer said to attract Chinese company

General Motors Corp., working to sell assets to help keep $13.4 billion in U.S. loans, has drawn interest in its Hummer brand from a Chinese company and a private-equity firm, people familiar with the talks said.

The pace of negotiations has intensified in the past few weeks, said the people, who wouldn’t name the suitors and asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. More meetings are scheduled this week, one person said.

"The Hummer review is progressing and an update is due by the end of the first quarter," said GM spokeswoman Joanne Krell, who wouldn’t comment on any bidders.

Unloading the sport-utility vehicle unit would move GM closer to the goal of showing its future viability to the U.S. Treasury by Feb. 17. If the biggest U.S. automaker can’t prove its ability to return to profit, it could be told to give up the loans or use the cash for a government-funded bankruptcy.

"Given the volume of the brand and the economic situation, I don’t really see a tremendous value," said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He estimated Hummer might fetch $100 million or less.

Xu Xianping promoted to top executive of FAW

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese auto giant FAW Group announced yesterday that Xu Xianping, former general manager of Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co., Ltd., and FAW Jiefang Truck Co., Ltd., has been promoted to vice general manager of FAW Group, with a one-year trial period, said sina.com today.

Xu Xianping has a technical background. He was one of the founders of FAW International Automobile Company and FAW Toyota Automobile Company, and then became the vice general manager of Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co., Ltd. and FAW Jiefang Truck Co., Ltd. successively. Xu has been an assistant to the general manger of FAW Group since October 2007.

Industry analysts noted that FAW Group now has three auto manufacturing bases (in Changchun, Tianjin, and Chengdu) and China's leading sedan R&D center. The automaker needs a top executive not only with high calibers of competition, R&D, management and sales, but also with expertise in strategy, technology and decision-making. Xu Xianping is a talent to meet these needs.

FAW Group saw its sales volume and revenue both reach record highs in 2008. The auto giant sold more than 1.53 million vehicles last year, a 6.75% increase from 2007. Sales revenue totaled a record high of 218.4 billion yuan ($32.12 billion), up 8.8% from the previous year.

Great Wall builds new auto parts plant in Tianjin

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor broke ground on a new auto part plant in North China's port city of Tianjin, Asia Pulse reported Tuesday.

The plant is located in the west part of Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, covering a land area of 1.3 million square meters. Total investment in the plant is 3 billion yuan ($439 million).

Major projects at the plant include the annual assembly of 150,000 sets of KDs, production of 150,000 sets of auto parts and a logistics center.

Beijing Auto aims to earn $14.7 bln in '09 sales

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company has announced that it aims to achieve 100 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) in sales revenue this year, up 34.3% from 2008, said Beijing Times today. This ambititious target can undoubtedly inject much confidence into the Chinese auto market.

The top management of Beijing Auto seem to be sure of generating more than 100 billion yuan in this year's auto sales: both the central government has released a series of auto industry incentives and Beijing municipality will also issue its local policies to support the auto market, which may see a double-digit growth this year.

If the sales of Beijing auto grow 10% in 2009, the sales revenu will reach 83 billion yuan; if all the "yellow-labeled" polluting vehicles are replaced by cleaner new ones this year, about 5-billion-yuan will be generated and added to the sales revenue. The restructuring of the company's product lineup will also create 10 billion yuan.

In addition, the auto-parts projects, auto services and others are also expected to generate 3 billion yuan for Beijing Auto.

China passes U.S. to be No.1 auto market in Jan

Shanghai, February 10 (Gasgoo.com) Largely due to the plunge in American car sales, China overtook the U.S. in monthly vehicle sales in January 2009 for the first time to be the world's No.1 auto market for the month, according to data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) today, state media reported.

The Chinese auto industry association CAAM said Tuesday that 735,000 vehicles were sold in China in January. That surpasses the 656,976 vehicles sold in the U.S. the same month. If China can outpace the United States in sales for all of 2009, it will become the world's largest vehicle market.

China passed Japan to become the world's second-biggest auto market in 2006. As the world's most populous nation of more than 1.3 billion people, China is expected to climb to the top position inevitably in the global industry. The recent plunge in U.S. auto market seems to have accelerated China's ascent to this throne.

While car sales have also slowed in China, but less dramatically, amid the economic downturn, U.S. sales tumbled 37% in January to a 26-year low. In China, January vehicle sales fell 14.4% from the monthly record 860,000 units in January 2008, CAAM statistics show. January sales were 0.8% down from December, and below the 790,000 units anticipated by some analysts.

Last week, Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Corp.'s executive director of global market and industry analysis, projected that Chinese auto sales could hit 10.7 million vehicles in 2009, more than his estimate of 9.8 million unit sales in the U.S. this year. Autodata Corp. forecasts 2009 U.S. sales at 9.57 million.

With its growing middle class and vast potential as a consumer market, China is vital for global automakers such as General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota as they count on demand here to offset the auto sales slump in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Chinese staff, executives quit Ssangyong Motor

All Chinese staff of Ssangyong Motor including CEO Lan Qingsong have gone home. The Korean automaker on Tuesday said all Chinese staff from owner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.(SAIC) have returned to China, with the last Chinese staffer, the accounting manager, leaving on Monday. About 30 Chinese staff, including about 10 executives, had worked in Korea.

That suggests SAIC is indeed washing its hands off the court receivership process. In a statement issued after filing for receivership earlier, SAIC had pledged to "do its best" in the court receivership process.

All 30 Korean executives resigned on Monday. A Ssangyong executive said they resigned en bloc to give the court receivers as much leeway as possible.

Ssangyong is trying to normalize operations by rolling out the C200, a new crossover vehicle, earlier than the original date at the end of this year. But recovering sales will not be easy and the automaker has not enough funds to maintain its plant and pay subcontractors.

China's Jan passenger car sales down 7.8% y/y

China's passenger car sales in January fell 7.76% from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, as the country's economy slowed, but month-on-month sales improved bolstered by the government's policy incentives.

Sales of passenger cars came to 610,600 units last month, up 4.44% from December when 584,600 passenger vehicles were sold, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Tuesday.

Total vehicle sales -- including cars, buses and trucks -- fell 14.35% year-on-year to 735,500 units in that month and was off 0.83 percent month-on-month, it said.

China, the world's fastest growing major auto market, had posted car sales growth above 20% for three years in a row until slowing economic growth began to erode demand last year. Car sales growth slowed to a single-digit rate in 2008 for the first time in at least 10 years.

Below is a breakdown for sales in January.

January sales pct change
Category (on year)
All vehicles 735,500 -14.35
Passenger cars 610,600 - 7.76

January sales*
Car maker
-SAIC-GM-Wuling 69,815
-Shanghai Volkswagen 40,642
-FAW Volkswagen 38,771
-*Chongqing Changan 38,079
-Beijing Hyundai 35,183

* No percentage comparisons were provided.
* Chongqing Changan Automobile Co's 000625.SZ January sales excludes the sales of its affiliates, including its car venture with Ford Motor (F.N) and Mazda Motor (7261.T).
Note: SAIC-GM-Wuling is a joint venture between General Motors Corp (GM.N) and SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS), China's largest car maker and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile.

Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) and SAIC, while FAW Volkswagen is the German automaker's tie-up with FAW Group.

Chongqing Changan Automobile is a mid-sized Chinese automaker.

Beijing Hyundai is a car venture between Beijing Automotive Industry Holding and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS).

dNaNo - USB R/C Micro Cars by Kyosho

The Japanese R/C model car company KYOSHO is about to release the dNaNo series in USA and Europe. These micro cars are super realistic 1:43 scale replicas and they’ve got the same level of details as the Die-cast models do.

What makes dNaNo really outstanding, beside its impressive performance, is the USB compatible control unit. It allows the user to setup the car via the Kyosho web server.

By registering the car and entering the special circuit, the dedicated ID
assigned to the IC tag on each car during production links to the circuit and
starts measuring lap times. While displaying your data on the circuit display,
all circuits are networked to the dNaNo Server, which automatically gets updated
with your lap times.
You can access this webpage from your PC. This amazing
system made possible with the dNaNo provides you with a deeper involvement with
your racing machine and its performance, bringing you closer to the racing
experience than ever before.

Head on over to the kyosho.com and dnanoshop.com websites for prices and more information about the dNaNo USB R/C micro cars from Kyosho.

Car-Shaped USB Hub

Fans of car-shaped USB mice, flash drives and card readers can now expand their collections with a 4-port USB (1.1 only) hub inspired by the classic Beetle.


Beetle Car USB 4-port Hub allows users to connect USB devices via its wheels. Users also can put their name cards or mobile phone on the stand.

Product Specifications:

4 ports hub
USB 1.1
LED head lights
Name card holder / Mobile phone holder
Plug and play
Size: 148*82*60mm
Weight: 95g

The Beetle Car USB 4-port Hub is yours for $12.50 from the gadget4all.com website.