China Automobile Industry, Technology (NEV, Driverless, etc): News & Images

[zectech]

I did not know it. If so, that's great because, China being the largest auto marker in the world, there is huge money to be made there. It would be stupid if Baidu etc missed on that.



***

Chery vehicle sales hit record high of 752,759 units in 2018

Molly From Gasgoo| January 09 , 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chery Holding announced that its vehicle sales hit a record high of 752,759 units in 2018, rising 11% from the previous year.

Its full-year vehicle export volume jumped 18% year on year to 126,993 units, retaining its crown by annual PV export volume in China for 16 consecutive years. In addition, the automaker saw its NEV sales in 2018 skyrocket 146% over a year ago to 90,537 units.

Last year, Chery rolled out a series of new models into market, including the Tiggo 8, Arrizo GX, the Jetour X 70, the new Tiggo 5x and the Tiggo 3xe, etc. Thanks to the injection of new products, the automaker gained positive increase amid an overall sales downturn nationwide.

The sales of the Tiggo 8 showed month-by-month growth for 6 straight months. The Jetour X70, the first model under Jetour, a new product series launched in early 2018, had cumulative sales exceeding 40,000 units after it went on sales in last August. The presale of the Jetour X90 has started on January 7 and the new model will officially hit the market on January 14 with an annual sales target of 150,000 units.

Aside from the sales growth, the company also made many other achievements last year. For instance, the first 1.6T GDI engine of Chery’s third-generation engine series has been put into production in 2018. Chery New Energy has been granted NEV production qualification from both the MIIT and the NDRC. Moreover, the construction of its R&D center located in Europe was completed in last October, further maturing Chery’s global development system.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/china_news/70015555.html

They make driveable chevy's for China? In the West they earned a reputation of always in the repair shop. Maybe Chevy does not charge 2000 yuan for a 4 ounce piece of plastic like they do in the West. In the West, they sell the autos cheap, so they know someone will be spending twice as much on auto repairs. It is a racket. If the Chinese want a foreign auto, buy Toyota

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-n...ost-and-least-reliable-car-manufacturers-2018

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/best-cars-for-reliability-and-low-cost-repairs/

https://www.designnews.com/automotive-0/10-least-reliable-automotive-brands

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallm...cheapest-repair-costs-in-the-u-s-infographic/

 

[TaiShang]

If the Chinese want a foreign auto, buy Toyota

China sales summary of top 4 Japanese automakers in 2018

Monika From Gasgoo| January 09 , 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In 2018, Nissan became the champion Japanese automaker by annual sales gaining a slight year-on-year (YoY) growth. Toyota achieved double-digit growth in both 2018 sales and December sales, boasting the most stable and vigorous increase. However, Mazda was not that lucky. It was the only one among four carmakers tabulated here who faced negative growth in both annual sales and December sales.

Nissan

Nissan' China sales showed a YoY decline of 4.4% in December, while its full-year sales still grew 2.9% over a year ago to 1,563,986 units, making Nissan the champion among all Japanese automakers in terms of their China sales in 2018.

Both PV unit and light CV unit achieved positive sales growth last year. The PV unit, including Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Venucia, sold 1,301,077 vehicles throughout 2018 with a YoY increase of 2.8%. Yet, the PV sales in December slid 6.9% compared with the same period a year ago.

Nissan's SUV sales in China edged up 3.3% YoY in December and climbed 15.2% for entire 2018. The Dec. sales of the Sylphy, the X-TRAIL, the Qashqai and the Murano all presented double-digit YoY growth with 60,833 units, 21,290 units, 17,577 units and 3,547 units sold respectively.

The sales mainstays for Dongfeng Venucia in December were the all-new Venucia D60, the T70 and the T90, whose respective sales amounted to 5,762 units, 2,987 units and 1,559 units.

The CV unit consisting of Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan sold a total of 216,969 vehicles in 2018 with a YoY growth of 5.4%.

Toyota

The runner-up Toyota attained a YoY growth of 14.3% in full-year China sales. Unlike Nissan, who saw an evident gap between its yearly growth and monthly growth, Toyota's December sales in this country showed a YoY increase of 14.7%, basically the same as its annual change.

The blooming sales performance for Toyota should be attributed to the propulsion caused by such new models as the eighth-generation Camry, the C-HR and the IZOA and China's tariff slash that greatly boots Lexus's performance.

Both two joint ventures gained positive increase last year. GAC Toyota delivered 580,337 vehicles throughout 2018 with a YoY surge of 31.8%. FAW Toyota saw its 2018 sales edge up 2.0% to 720,306 units.

Premium car brand Lexus witnessed its annual sales in China jump 20.8%, for the first time exceeding 160,000 units.

Honda

Honda's China sales in 2018 were 1,432,291 units, edging down 0.6% from the year-ago period. GAC Honda achieved a tiny YoY growth of 0.6% with 735,276 vehicles delivered from January to December, while Dongfeng Honda, with 697,015 vehicles handed over last year, encountered a YoY drop of 4.1%.

The Japanese automaker reaped a good end in 2018. Last month, Honda's China deliveries reached a new high of 191,907 units, leaping 33.8% from the previous year. GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda saw their Dec. sales significantly rose 26% and 40.6% respectively to 84,551 units and 107,356 units.

A total of 7 models, including the Civic, the XR-V, the CR-V, the Accord, the Vezel, the Fit and the Crider, all had respective sales exceeding 100,000 units on an annual basis. Especially, the Civic becomes Honda's first model whose full-year sales in China surpass 200,000 units.

Models featuring the SPORT HYBRID i-MMD (Intelligent Multi Mode Drive) are rather popular among Chinese consumers. For instance, the yearly sales of the CR-V HYBRID reached 26,360 units, making up around 20% of the CR-V's 2018 sales.

Mazda

Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd. announced that its annual sales in 2018 declined 12% YoY to 272,322 units. Two Sino-Japanese joint ventures—FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda sold 108,970 units and 163,352 units throughout 2018, dropping 12.3% and 11.8% over a year ago.

In December, the Japanese automaker's sales in China reached 20,546 units, slumping 37.8% over the previous year. According the sales data compiled by Gasgoo, by the end of December, 2018, Mazda has suffered YoY drop in monthly sales for eight consecutive months in the world's largest auto market. However, thanks to the growing performance from January to April, the automaker's year-to-date (YTD) sales presented positive growth for first eight months in 2018.

Nobuhiko Watabe, chairman of Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd., said that Mazda has seen its total sales in China exceed 3 million units. Meanwhile, the cumulative sales of Mazda's vehicle carrying SkyActive Technology surpassed 1 million units in May, 2018.

***

Japanese automakers' market is growing, but too slowly, in my opinion.

Japanese automakers need to cater more directly to China's market demands. Honda, for instance, recently unveiled a China-only SUV model.

Without localization, they will be easy targets for well-entrenched ones, especially German brands.

A final note, if Subaru decides to manufacture in China, their SUVs have a great chance to sweep the flour with the likes of tin-foil Buicks or Cadillacs.

 

[JSCh]

Powered by the state, China takes charge of electric buses, with Shenzhen taking the lead

• With world’s first all-electric public transport network, technology hub Shenzhen has taken pole position in a nationwide drive towards green development
• Shanghai is not far behind, expects its own electric fleet to be on the road in 2020, two years ahead of schedule

BY ZIGOR ALDAMA
18 JAN 2019

A worker uses dry ice to wash the buses at the Shanghai Bashi Public Transportation’s second division depot in Baoshan, in China. Picture: Zigor Aldama

It’s 9pm when the first buses start arriving at the Shanghai Bashi Public Transportation depot. In the coming two hours, as they finish service around the city’s Baoshan district, almost 300 drivers will bring their vehicles in to be cleaned, maintained and parked for the night.

The queue to enter the security gate grows, but the employee in charge of the petrol pumps has little to do; he battles boredom with his phone while buses pass by. And his future employment prospects look even bleaker.

Two-hundred forty of the buses here, at Shanghai Bashi’s second-division depot, are fully electric, and it seems likely that, next year, no combustion engine will enter the premises at all. In an effort to curb pollution and noise, China’s most populous city expects the substitution of all traditional vehicles in its public transport system to be completed two years ahead of schedule.

That helps explain why the queue of buses has moved on so swiftly to the washing tunnel.

Continue-> Powered by the state, China takes charge of electric buses, with Shenzhen taking the lead | Post Magazine | South China Morning Post

 

[TaiShang]

BYD Song MAX BEV version said to hit market in 2019

Monika From Gasgoo| January 17 , 2019


Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The BYD Song MAX is an MPV model developed by Chinese automaker BYD that went on sales in the third quarter of 2017 and its PHEV version has already been launched last year. According to China's local media, the BEV version of the BYD Song MAX is expected to hit the market this year.

BYD Song MAX gasoline-powered version

As the photos taken by local media shows, the BEV version displays a striking resemblance to the gasoline-burning version, yet some nuances could be noticed at the front face. Featuring BYD's latest iconic “Dragon Face” design, the new model has a grille looking like a mouth agape, which is decorated with multi-banner chrome trims extending to the outline of headlights. It is noticeable that the grille features more segments separated by chrome trims than the existing gasoline-powered version, also carries slimmer fog lights.

As to the side profile, the upward-sloping lines are in tune with the floating roof. At the rear end, above a chrome trim that pierces into taillights on both sides is a logo of Chinese character “宋” (Song).

The BYD Song MAX BEV version measures 4,680mm long, 1,810mm wide and 1,680mm tall with a wheelbase spanning 2,785mm, the same as the gasoline version.

Such facilities as the panoramic roof, luggage rack, radar, privacy window and side curtain air bag will be offered to customers as optional choice.

Powering the vehicle will be an electric motor that does 120kW. The lettering of “MAX EV500” suggests that its maximum range may be 500km.


http://autonews.gasgoo.com/new_energy/70015583.html

 

[JSCh]

Geely to start making Lotus cars in Wuhan
By Reuters and China Daily | China Daily | Updated: 2019-01-18 09:24

An employee works on a Lotus Evora sports car as it moves down the production line at the Group Lotus Plc plant in Hethel, the United Kingdom. [Photo/Agencies]

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will start producing cars under British sports car brand Lotus in China at a 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) factory in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, according to Reuters, citing company job advertisements and government documents.

It will be the Chinese carmaker's first move to shake up Lotus since its purchase of a 51-percent stake in 2017 from Malaysian carmaker Proton as part of a package deal with its parent company DRB-Hicom. Geely vowed then to "bring it into a new phase of development by expanding and accelerating the rolling out of new products and technologies."

Lotus cars are currently built in the United Kingdom. In a statement to China Daily on Thursday, Geely said: "Lotus Cars is undergoing an exciting resurgence with the backing of Geely, and expanding the brand's manufacturing footprint globally is a key part of the company's strategy. Details on additional locations and models will be confirmed in due course."

The Wuhan Development Zone in Hubei province, where the new Geely factory will be based, said on its website last month that production at the plant would include the carmaker's "Lotus project".

Job advertisements on Geely's website show the automaker is looking to fill at least 20 Wuhan-based roles for the Lotus project.

The planning authority of Hubei province approved Geely's plans for the plant in late December. The factory will be able to manufacture 150,000 cars annually, according to a document posted on the authority's website.

The plant is slated to start construction this year and finish in 2021. It will build all-electric battery cars, electric hybrids as well as combustion engine cars like Lotuses.

Lotus registered its strongest sales since 2011 in 2018 with sales reaching 1,630 units. "Lotus is well placed to capitalize on its success in 2019 with planned expansion in markets such as China and the US," said Geely.

"For Geely, going high-end can help it take more market share," said Alan Kang, a Shanghai-based analyst at LMC Automotive. "Geely needs to do that to better compete with global brands."

Geely launched its premium brand Lynk & Co in 2017 to compete with volume international brands like Volkswagen and Ford, and sales exceeded 120,000 units in 2018, accounting for 8 percent of Geely's total sales.

While it is not clear what portion of the new Wuhan plant would be devoted to the British brand, greater production volumes would be consistent with Geely's stated ambition to grow the market for Lotus by broadening its lineup.

Lotus currently produces models such as the Evora and Elise. James Bond famously drove a Lotus Esprit in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, and Lotus once boasted a Formula One team until it was sold to Renault in 2015.

Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Lotus may make luxury sport utility vehicles rather than sports cars during the Wuhan plant's initial phase.

One of the sources said Geely wanted to emulate premium carmakers, whose luxury SUV models were selling well in China.

The share of premium SUVs in China's overall passenger car market grew from 4.07 percent in 2014 to 5.01 percent in 2018, according to data from consultancy JD Power.

Geely's sales soared 20 percent to 1.5 million in 2018, despite the Chinese auto market slipping for the first time since 1990. The carmaker expects its sales in 2019 to stay at the same level as last year's.

The company has made waves in the auto world with its $9 billion purchase of a stake in Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler AG in 2018 and its $1.8 billion acquisition of Sweden's Volvo from Ford in 2010.

 

[JSCh]

Technology 10:31, 21-Jan-2019
Another 100 Chinese electric buses join Chilean fleet
CGTN

A second batch of 100 Chinese-built electric buses joined the public transit fleet serving Chile's capital Santiago last weekend.

Transport and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt unveiled the new units last Saturday, saying the buses made by Chinese vehicle maker Yutong will serve alongside the first batch of 100 buses already in circulation.

"Talking about electric public transportation sounded futuristic a few years ago, but today it is a reality that circulates in our streets every day," Hutt told reporters at the presentation.

The new units make Chile the Latin American country with the biggest electric public transit fleet, and in second place globally.

The air-conditioned buses are 100 percent electric and have other modern features, including on-board Wi-Fi connection and seats equipped with USB ports for charging mobiles and other hand-held devices.

They are quiet to operate, helping combat noise pollution, and cut operating costs by nearly 80 percent compared to the current diesel-powered buses serving the capital, the minister said.

The buses are able to reach speeds of up to 85 km per hour and run for up to 300 km on a single charge and are set to serve commuters shuttling between the country's two most heavily populated urban districts, Maipu and Puente Alto, surrounding the capital.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera waves from an electric bus during a handing-over ceremony on December 13, 2018. VCG Photo

"We are fully in the process of technological updating. Just as we have gasoline stations, we will also now have the latest electric charging stations, which will place us at the cutting edge of this field," said Luis Barahona, general manager of STP Santiago, one of the companies which are to operate the buses.

During the ceremony, Yutong's vice president, Kent Chang, presented Hutt with a traditional Chinese decorative tassel, a symbol of friendship and good fortune.

The vehicles were shipped from Yutong's plant in Zhengzhou in central China and spent nearly two months in transit.

On December 13, 2018, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera unveiled the first 100 electric buses for Santiago's transit fleet, which were made by Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD.

Two days later, the first 26 buses went into circulation.

According to Hutt, the buses have been "well received" and have been "operating well."

Incorporating the electric buses is part of "Third Millennium Transport," an ambitious program to upgrade public transit in the capital and other major cities and promote sustainability in Chile.

(Top image via VCG)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

 

[TaiShang]

NIO’s third model said to be a sedan dubbed EP7

Claire From Gasgoo| January 21 , 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The third model of Chinese EV startup NIO will be a sedan model dubbed “EP7”, according to local media. The new model is likely to be launched at the NIO Day 2019 based on the routine that the startup always released a new model per NIO Day for the past two years.

NIO has so far released two mass-produced models. The first model ES8, hitting the market at NIO Day 2017, is priced between RMB44,800 and RMB548,000 (for the founder's editions). With both front and rear motors, the NIO ES8 delivers 480 kW of power and 840 N·m of torque to all four wheels. This E-powertrain enables the ES8 to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds.

The ES8 is equipped with a 70-kWh liquid-cooled battery pack comprised of cutting-edge VDA square cell batteries. These cells feature the highest energy density of their kind and provide a 2,000-charge lifecycle. The ES8 achieves over 500 km of range when constantly run at 60 kph, and the car achieves an NEDC range of 355 km.

NIO has delivered a total of 11,348 ES8s by the end of 2018, among which 3,318 units were handed over in last December, according to NIO's sales report.

The world premiere of the ES6 high-performance long-range electric SUV held at the NIO Day 2018. The ES6 currently offers the Standard and Performance Versions with pre-subsidiary starting prices of RMB358,000 and RMB398,000 respectively. It is customized and made to order. Users can pre-order the ES6 through the NIO App, with deliveries starting in June 2019.

With a high-strength aluminum & carbon fiber reinforced plastics hybrid structure, the ES6 features 4.7 second 0-100 km/h acceleration, a NEDC range of over 510 km, and 33.9-meter braking distance from 100-0 km/h.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/china_news/70015593.html

 

[JSCh]

China's Re-Fire to Build USD294.5 Million Hydrogen Car Plant in Fuel Cell Hub Foshan
LIN CHUNTING
DATE : JAN 22 2019/SOURCE : YICAI

China's Re-Fire to Build USD294.5 Million Hydrogen Car Plant in Fuel Cell Hub Foshan​

(Yicai Global) Jan. 22 -- Reinventing Fire Technology, a major Chinese fuel cell system manufacturer, will construct a plant that produces complete hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and parts in southern Chinese Guangdong province.

Reinventing Fire, also known as Re-Fire, penned an agreement with the Nanhai district government in the city of Foshan on Jan. 19 regarding the CNY2 billion (USD294.5 million) project, the Shanghai-based firm posted on its WeChat social media account.

The initial investment of CNY2.2 billion will be used for building a research and development base for hydrogen fuel cells, systems and parts. The plant will have an annual output value of CNY15 billion.

Foshan has attracted other hydrogen businesses too. In 2017, Hangzhou's Changjiang Automobile decided to construct a new energy vehicle plant in Nanhai, and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing was one of the investors. The factory will make 160,000 NEVs including hydrogen fuel cell cars each year.

"Nanhai district has developed a complete industrial chain for hydrogen vehicle production that supports the local energy industry, Gu Yaohui, the head of Nanhai district government, said at Re-Fire's signing ceremony. One reason for the allure is that while subsidies for other NEVs have diminished, hydrogen businesses still enjoy ample government support.

 

[TaiShang]

BAIC BJEV, Huawei team up again on ICV, jointly set up innovation laboratory

Monika From Gasgoo| January 29 , 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On January 28, BAIC BJEV, a new energy vehicle business arm of BAIC Group, inked an agreement with Huawei, a China-based leading provider of ICT infrastructures and smart devices, to conduct a well-rounded business cooperation focusing on intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) based on the intention to improve the ecosystem of automotive industry and eventually realize “smart traffic and smart mobility”.

Meanwhile, both parties jointly announced the establishment of the “1873 Davidson Innovation Laboratory” to implement cooperation over technology R&D and product innovation, covering such fields as cloud computing, Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and energy networks. Besides, they will use the newly-built laboratory to study on the in-depth integration of ICT technologies and ICVs, which involves cloud computing, big data, industrial Internet of Things (IoT) as well as cybersecurity, and explore the collaboration over users, ecosystem and supply chain fusion.

BAIC BJEV and Huawei formed the partnership on September 27, 2017 to jointly work on technology R&D and product innovation, involving such areas as cloud computing, IoV (Internet of Vehicles) and energy network, etc.

Then, on November 5 last year, they signed an agreement again. Based on the stepped-up cooperation, Huawei would offer its advantage on ICT (Information Communications Technology) to help the EV maker build its next-generation intelligent-connected EVs.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/china_news/70015616.html

 

[TaiShang]

10-Feb-2019

China car sales see big growth at the beginning of 2019
Zhang Xinyuan

Foreign and domestic car makers reported sales growth in the Chinese market for January 2019 this week, shined a promising light on China's auto market in 2019 after a less than satisfying auto sales performance in China last year.

FAW-Volkswagen Audi sold 63,888 vehicles in the Chinese market in January, a monthly record high, data posted at the company's website showed. The sales represented a 5.3-percent growth from the same timeframe as last year.

China's domestically-manufactured models, whose sales grew 3.9 percent year on year, made up almost 91 percent of the cars sold last month, while sales of imported models made up 5,500 units, according to the FAW-Volkswagen Audi.

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Company also showed record sales growth in China, selling 136,483 cars in January 2019, an increase of 108.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the data released on the company's website.

Chinese car maker BYD delivered 60,000 cars in January 2019, increasing 77 percent year-on-year.

Among the sales increase, 32,000 of them are new energy vehicles, up 342 percent compared to the same period last year.

The sales uptick in China's auto market was a pleasant surprise after the country reported the first negative growth for car sales last year in more than two decades, down 5.8 percent year on year, amid the trade tension with the U.S. and downward economic pressure.

At the beginning of January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicted that China's auto market is expected to develop at a slow pace in 2019 as mild economic expansion might weigh on big-ticket item consumption.

CAAM predicted that about 28 million cars are likely to be sold in China in 2019, remaining flat with 2018.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414d30416a4e32457a6333566d54/index.html

 

[TaiShang]

BYD posts YoY surge of 291.11% in Jan. new energy vehicle sales

Monika From Gasgoo| February 14 , 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- BYD Company Limited announced on February 13 that its sales volume in January grew 3.74% from a year earlier to 43,920 units, while tumbled 36.9% compared with a month ago.

The sales of new energy vehicles skyrocketed 291.11% year on year (YoY) to 28,668 units, which substantially offset the YoY plunge of 56.43% in Jan. sales of oil-fueled vehicles (with 15,252 units delivered).

All segments of new energy vehicle achieved positive YoY increase in January. The sales of new energy passenger vehicles totaled 28,005 units with a splendid YoY surge of 291.62%, among which the sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles soared 65.79% to 11,786 units. It’s worth mentioning that the battery electric vehicle segment, with 16,219 units delivered, enjoyed a marvelous leap up to 38516.67%.

Although the sales volume of new energy commercial vehicles is quite small, it also shot up 270.39% over the year-ago period to 663 units, including 554 buses.

All segments of oil-fuel vehicle came across substantial sales drop last month. The sales of MPVs posted the biggest decline of 66.6% with 5,033 units sold. Besides, the sales of sedans and SUVs plunged 64.95% and 22.37% respectively over the previous year to 4,330 units and 5,889 units.

The installed capacity of new energy vehicle power battery and energy storage battery of BYD for the first month of 2019 was approximately 1.55GWh.

BYD is ambitious to sell 650,000 vehicles in 2019 and plans to roll out nine or ten new models, including the all-new BYD Tang EV600, the Song MAX DM, the Yuan EV535 and the Song Pro, etc.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/china_news/70015656.html

 

[JSCh]

China unveils world's first technical standards on EV energy consumption
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-18 20:47:55|Editor: ZX

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China has unveiled the world's first technical standards on energy consumption of electric vehicles (EV).

The national standards specify the energy consumption limits for different types of EVs, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

It is expected to facilitate applications of EV energy conservation technologies and reduce energy consumption.

China is the world's largest EV market, with sales of new energy vehicles soaring 61.74 percent year on year to 1.26 million units in 2018.

The administration also released 645 other standards covering a wide range of fields such as traffic signs and nursing homes.

 

[TaiShang]

China’s new energy PV wholesale volume in Jan. surges 186% from a year ago

Monika From Gasgoo| February 20 , 2019


Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's new energy passenger vehicle wholesale volume in January, 2019 totaled 91,175 units, surging 186% year on year (YoY), while dropping 43% month on month (MoM), according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Last month, the BEV sales leapt 268% from a year ago to 72,175 units, yet still 44% less than that of the previous month. The sales of all-electric cars and SUVs skyrocketed 177% and 1134% over a year earlier respectively to 48,611 units and 23,403 units.

The PHEV sales presented a YoY increase of 55% with 19,000 units sold in January. Of that, SUV sales substantially jumped 86% to 12,061 units and the car sector held the other 6,939 units with a YoY growth of 20%.

The percentage of BEV sales in Jan. edged down to 79% in 2019 from 81% in 2018. Accordingly, the proportion of PHEV sales in Jan. climbed to 21% this year from 19% a year ago.

As to the performance of each segment for BEVs, the A-segment held the largest proportion of 46% with its sales splendidly surging 1,945% over the year-ago period to 32,975 units. The sales of A00-segment and A0-segment reached 21,426 units and 15,717 units, growing 28% and skyrocketing 1,091% respectively compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

The A-segment and B-segment vehicle were mainstays for PHEVs, occupying 51% and 47% of Jan. PHEV sales. The sales of B-segment PHEVs significantly shot up 580% to 8,908 units, while the A-segment, with 9,601 vehicles sold, suffered a YoY decrease of 13%.

Five models among the top 15 new energy PV models by Jan. wholesale volume came from BYD. Besides, the Baojun E100, the BYD e5 and the BAIC EU Series, whose respective sales in Jan. 2018 were even less than 100 units, had marvelous sales leap of 10,290%, 59,416.67% and 4,830.38% last month. However, the sales of the BYD Qin Pro DM, the JAC iEV6E and the BYD Song DM were only three models that faced negative growth.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/new_energy/70015669.html

 

[JSCh]

BYD breaks ground on massive battery plant in Chongqing
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 14:48:37|Editor: Li Xia

CHONGQING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's automaker BYD broke ground on its new factory in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday, aiming to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

With an investment of 10 billion yuan (about 1.49 billion U. S. dollars), the power battery factory under construction will have an annual output capacity of 20 gigawatt hours (GWh) and will become a major battery production base for new energy vehicles in the country.

BYD will build eight fully-automated lithium-ion battery production lines to make power cells, modules and packs, as well as develop supporting industries.

The first-stage construction is scheduled to be completed and put into operation within one year, according to BYD.

Work on BYD's 2.4-billion-yuan rail bus project ("Yun Ba" in Chinese) started in Chongqing at the same time. Like the BYD Skyrail project that provides multi-layered transportation solutions to relieve urban traffic congestion, Yun Ba will begin a trial run on a 15.4-km-long track by the end of 2019.

As one of China's traditional auto manufacturing hubs, Chongqing has been hastening its transformation by bringing in leading EV manufacturers like BYD and other EV startups in recent years, according to industry insiders.

The municipal government plans to raise annual automobile production to 3.2 million by 2022, including 400,000 EVs and 1.2 million ICVs (intelligent connected vehicles), and generate an output value of 650 billion yuan.

 

[TaiShang]

Automakers embrace 5G for smart vehicles

By Cheng Yu | China Daily | Updated: 2019-02-28

Employees work on the assembly line of automaker Geely Holding Group in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Shi Yu / for China Daily]

Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has announced a major partnership to put its first 5G and C-V2X-enabled vehicles into mass production by 2021, as the country's car industry enters the fast lane of intelligent-connected vehicles with the approach of 5G commercialization.

C-V2X, also known as Cellular Vehicle-To-Everything, is a wireless technology that enables communication among vehicles, people and traffic infrastructure.

Geely's new vehicles will be made in cooperation with US chip giant Qualcomm Inc and Chinese internet of things provider Gosuncn Technology Group Co, the company said at this year's Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday.

"Such cars will be Geely's first vehicle models with Level 3 autonomous technology. Also, our future cars will all be built with 5G and C-V2X," said Shen Ziyu, vice-president of Geely Research Institute.

With the commercialization of superfast 5G just miles away, industry insiders pointed out that intelligent-connected vehicles will stand at the forefront of the IoT industry, which is a critical application area of 5G.

According to Liu Shuangguang, chairman of Gosuncn, 5G is an inevitable trend of the future communications industry while C-V2X, as a special non-line-of-sight sensor, will become one of the core technologies of autonomous driving.

By applying such technologies, vehicles, be they human-driven or driverless, can know in real-time what's ahead of them.

Geely added that currently, some of its autonomous models have arrived at Level 2, but with the introduction of these technologies, they will be lifted to Level 3 by the end of 2021.

Level 2 means "hand off"－the automated system takes full control of the vehicle, but the driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to intervene immediately at any time.

Level 3 refers to "eyes off"－the vehicle will handle situations which require an immediate response, and the driver must still be prepared to intervene within some limited time.

Level 5 is the highest standard, which means no human intervention is required at all.

Major Chinese vehicle manufacturers are stepping up efforts to promote related technologies. Traditional carmakers are striving to join hands with tech companies to accelerate the progress.

Last month, another Chinese vehicle maker Changan Automobile signed a cooperation deal with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to establish a joint innovation center for 5G car networking and C-V2X technology.

The Chinese authorities have paid great attention to intelligent-connected vehicles and strived to promote the industry to be globally competitive.

The nation plans to have smart cars with partial or fully autonomous functions accounting for 50 percent of the new vehicles sold in the nation by 2020.

Market consultancy IDC predicted that China will become the world's largest market for internet of things by 2022, with annual expenditure of $300 billion.