Saab will continue to produce the 9-3

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) saved Saab from bankruptcy last year and promised to debut an electric vehicle in about 18 months with the name Saab, but it can't use the griffin logo because it is also used by Scania and Saab Aerospace Group. Now plans have been changed. While the company still wants to build electric vehicles they will first resume the production of the "old" 9-3 to prepare the company, economically and industrially, for the new electric Saab.

Starting from mid-2013 you will be able to again buy a Saab 9-3 and later in the year a 9-3X, both produced in Throllhattan, Sweden. The new EV, also built in Throllhattan, will arrive in 2014, and when the production reaches the factory limit of 120.000 units/year a new factory will be constructed in China.

I don't know if building electric vehicles is the best option for a company recovering from a bankruptcy, specially if that is the main goal. In 2012 only 110.000 electric vehicles were sold in the world.

Source: es.autoblog

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Short News: China will overtake Europe in automobile production

In reality this is not something unexpected, China is one of, if not the largest emerging market in the world, so it was expected that one day the number of cars produced in the world's most populous country with about 1.34 billion people, surpass those produced in Europe.

And according to the projection made by consultancy firms IHS, LMC Auto and PwC, and investment banks UBS and Credit Suisse, that will happen this year. China will produce 19.6 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, while Europe will reach 18.3 million. in 2012, Europe produced 18.9 million, and China 17.8 million units.

And the European values include Russia and Turkey for a population of 715 million. Fortunately most European car companies have partnerships with Chinese companies and will be able to cushion losses due the contraction of the European market.

Source: autohoje

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Volvo XC60 facelift revealed in China

 

It seems that the Chinese automobile market is entitled to have the majority of updates before all other countries, and once again it happened with the facelift of the Volvo XC60.

 

The front lights, grille and bumpers are different and follow the style presented with the new V40. On the inside we get to see a new dashboard. The facelift will hit dealerships in May.

Towards the end of 2013 the model abandons the 5-cylinder engines and will adopt the more economical and less polluting, 4-cylinder motors.

Source: yiche

 

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Fiat Panda and Panda 4x4 coming to China!

 

The Pandas are coming and i don't mean the bear but the small car from the Italian company. Fiat intends to patent the Panda 4x4 and Panda in the Chinese market so production can be begin by the new Guangzhou-Fiat joint venture.

 

The Guangzhou-Fiat partnership produces the Viaggio sedan and soon will produce the hatchback version. Production of both Pandas will start, in the best of chances, in 2014, and may facilitate production of the 500 in China, since the platform use by the Panda is the same.

Source: Auto.Ifeng

 

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Audi R8 China Edition

We all known that the Chinese market is the market you want to be and because of that more and more companies are creating specially made products to please potential buyers in the People’s Republic of China.

This special version, limited to 80 units, will be available in Malibu Blue or Suzuka Grey with contrasting side blades, black 19-inch rims and a carbon fibre rear wing.

On the inside there is plenty of alcantara and leather on the seats and steering wheel, body colored trim and a gear knob with the serial number of the car that will skip all numbers with "4" in them because it is considered to be a unlucky number since it is pronounced similarly to the word "death".

The engine is the same V10 5.2liter with 525hp and 530Nm connected to a R tronic gearbox and the quattro all-wheel drive system allowing the car to go from a stationary position to 100km/h (62mph) in 3,9 seconds.

Source: GMotors

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Is this the Chinese version of the new Land Rover Defender, based on the DC100 concept? No, just a copy from BAIC

Seems someone in China, in particular in BAIC, really liked the DC100 Concept which was released a few months ago by Land Rover and decided they should do something similar.

 

This model will be part of the rebirth of the Zhan Qi class of SUVs which were very popular many years ago, thanks to its robustness and cheap price. How about the price? and the engine? Dimensions? I have no idea.

Source: ChinaCarTimes

This is the DC100 Concept from Land Rover

 

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