China Economic ReviewBrilliance China Automotive Holdings, China's largest minibus maker, is issuing US$170 million in convertible bonds with the help of Citigroup, which handled a recent share placement by the firm. Brilliance recently started producing sedans in China under a joint venture with BMW.
New car finance regulations have failed to impress foreign carmakers, according to a report in the Financial Times. Volkswagen's financing group complained that the new rules were 'even more restrictive' than last year's draft and that the lengthy approvals needed from the Banking Regulatory Commission meant the group would be unlikely to be able to […]
Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp are to invest a combined US$278m in a Shanghai plant to make 1.4- and 1.6- litre engines, reported Bloomberg. Operations in the 180,000-units-a-year capacity plant should begin in 2005 and annual production could be expanded to 300,000 engines. The equity shares in the new company were said to be […]
Toyota plans to start making about 300,000 passenger car engines a year in a US$270m Guangzhou-based factory, said Nikkei. The engines, to be made in the 70 per cent foreign- owned venture with Guangzhou Automobile, will be shipped to Toyota car assem- bly plants in Taiwan, Thailand and Japan from 2005. The plant will produce […]
US car giant Ford said it would increase its investment in China by US$1bn to US$1.5bn over the next few years to expand output seven-fold in the world's fastest-growing car market. It aims to increase its China production capacity to 150,000 cars a year from its current level of just 20,000. Investment plans at its […]