Chinese automobile industry?

[Nomenclature]

There are too many state-owned carmakers in China who's wallets are fattened by joint ventures with foreign players yet are unwilling to invest in their own brands.

 

[Jackdaws]

They recently launched a Chinese car in India. Zotye Nomada - rebranded as a Premier Rio. It has to be by far the worst car ever to hit Indian roads. The fit and finish is terrible. Some of the levers were upside down. The car came with some unknown tubeless tyres branded "Kenda". Interior - very plasticy. Poor leg room and total absence of under thigh support. The Nano is more comfortable and better designed than this SUV.

 

[tanlixiang28776]

Heres a more fair review than someone who hasn't even driven the thing and is only here to talk down on anything Chinese.

 

[blackops]

Heres a more fair review than someone who hasn't even driven the thing and is only here to talk down on anything Chinese.

Can you please post some pics also is there a co known as yogan or something like that or is it a name of a car

 

[Merilion]

This thread will be much more attractive if someone posts some pictures of the Chinese cars.

there are too many cars produced in China and i'm not a car expert so i just randomly surfing to a car sales website to get info on VW since it's the most popular cars sold in China according to some report.
seems there are two VW group in China: VW Shanghai and VW FAW. They are independent and strong competitor to each other.
Cars produced in VW Shanghai and still sold in market:VW Shanghai

To the benefit of non chinese speaking members I grabbed pictures and changed the car name from Chinese to English here:

[Lavida]

[Santana]

[Polo]

[Passat]

[Tiguan]

[Touareg]

======================================================
i will include Cars produced in VW FAW in next post as it only allows 8 pics the most for one post.

 

[Merilion]

Cars produced in VW FAWi and still sold in market:
VW FAW
Pictures:

[Jetta]

[Bora]

[Golf]

[Passat CC]

[Sagitar]

[Magotan]

In addition to the above VW cars, VW FAW also produced AudiA4,Q5,A6.
VW FAW Audi

[Audi A6]

And there are many VW cars imported to China market too:
Imported VW cars

 

[Brotherhood]

 

[webber]

current selling cars in china by class

http://www.autohome.com/all

 

[Jackdaws]

I have driven this car and it is pathetic. I even met the PR agency which was hired by Premier to promote the car. Many auto channel err - tweak their reviews.

This is the review from what is acknowledged as the best and the most neutral car website for enthusiasts in India. Team BHP -

he Rio is basically a small Chinese SUV which is sold in their domestic market by the Zotye Group. Premier has basically aquired rights to produce the car in India. The car will be made in Premier's Pune plant and will be sold through dealers across India Premier says that initial local content will be around 20 to 25%. The rest of the components will be Chinese. Premier will be making 500 units till March 2010. The Rio will come in three variants EX,DX and LX. The top end gets alloys and ABS. However even the top end LX gets just front power windows something which I feel should not be omitted in a 6 lakh rupee car. The top two variants come with a CD player as standard. No audio on the base model. They also have a non AC version. Regarding the equipment levels, some said that I could not ask for more in a car at this price but honeslty I have seen better. More details on the features and fit an finish in the pictures below.


I had the chance to take a short drive of the Rio. It is powered by the TUD5 diesel engine which earlier did duty in the now defunct Peugeot 309 GLD. The engine gives 65 bhp @4000rpm while max torque stands at 152Nm @3000rpm. The engine really feels underpowered and that is surprising considering the small size of the car. The Rio is not wide either and I would not rule out toppling at high speeds. The driving position is not great with the steering touching the legs of even a short driver like me. This gets quite irritating. The power steering is quite light though and driving it through traffic should not be a problem. Coming to the rear, the Rio is strictly a 4 seater as opposed to the company's 5 seating capacity. The rear seat has no thigh support and even I had to sit with my legs folded upwards. The rear seats are split and can be flipped forward to accomodate more luggage. I cannot comment on the ABS or brakes since I did not do any high speed runs. The Rio runs on 205/70 R15 tyres on 15 inchers. The tyres I saw on the car were some Chinese brand but on questioning the Premier official told me that they were offering Bridgestones as an option as well.

The Rio is the only vehicle of its kind in the market today. Its a different segment altogether. Premier hasnt really had a great success record when it comes to joint ventures. The Peugeot JV bombed big time and the Fiat one wasnt that great either. However I feel that the Rio could have some takers in the rural market where the base model could get some takers. The taxi market could have been a potential target too but I have my doubts on how a four seater will go down with the tourist guys. How Premier aims to make a success of the Rio remains to be seen. Prices for the Rio variants are as follows:

EX - 5.25 lakhs
DX - 5.50 lakhs
LX - 5.95 lakhs

Full thread -
New compact SUV from Premier Auto. EDIT: Rio quick testdrive on page 10 - Page 10 - Team-BHP

 

[webber]

india's national pride VS china's cheapest car

试驾对比奇瑞“QQ3”和印度塔塔“Nano”——QQ3完成度较高，“Nano”转向轻巧加速动力足

can hardly call it a car, just 4wheel motorcycle

 

[tanlixiang28776]

india's national pride VS china's cheapest car

试驾对比奇瑞“QQ3”和印度塔塔“Nano”——QQ3完成度较高，“Nano”转向轻巧åŠé€ŸåŠ¨åŠ›è¶³

can hardly call it a car, just 4wheel motorcycle

It was like the Video where they compared the Arjun against the baseline type 96. They don't realize they're embarrassing themselves by even making that comparison.

This sums it up well

"Lol. Clutching at straws. Comparing the best Indian made tank to a Chinese "cheap" tank doesn't say much about the Arjun."

"type 99 is a better comparison and it would blow the Arjun right off the battlefied, higher quantities built and faster production rate."

applies to cars as well.

 

[webber]

well, bosch made a quite reliable engine for nano

everything else is just rubbish

 

[Jackdaws]

india's national pride VS china's cheapest car

试驾对比奇瑞“QQ3”和印度塔塔“Nano”——QQ3完成度较高，“Nano”转向轻巧åŠé€ŸåŠ¨åŠ›è¶³

can hardly call it a car, just 4wheel motorcycle

I agree about the QQ being a motorcycle - even that is being generous.

 

[tanlixiang28776]

I agree about the QQ being a motorcycle - even that is being generous.

As well as the Nano then.

 

[Tin Man]

well, bosch made a quite reliable engine for nano

everything else is just rubbish

I have seen this nano in mannheim a few times. I think the company that manufactures it also owns jaguar?