Yang Jian

The new plant, Grammer's 11th in China, will assemble center consoles, armrests and other interior components for locally produced BMW vehicles.

The first product from Renault-Jiangling, Renault Group’s electric-vehicle joint venture with Jiangling, went on sale in China this week.

The Chinese auto industry is not going to restructure anytime soon – even as the government this week began to signal interest in seeing consolidation.

Linda Gao, head of Inalfa Roof System’s China operations, has been made president and CEO of the Dutch automotive roof maker, succeeding Jorg Buchheim.

Electric vehicles will generate 40 percent of annual luxury sales in China by 2030, up from 10 percent now, the brand says.

The major private Chinese light-vehicle manufacturer signed an agreement with Daimler this week to purchase the German automaker’s car factory in Brazil. 

Audi’s first-half China deliveries jumped 39 percent, led by imported products, according to tallies disclosed this week by FAW-Volkswagen, Volkswagen Group’s joint venture with China FAW Group Corp.

The new company, named Aurobay, is eventually expected to supply customers outside the Volvo-Geely group.

Volkswagen received approval this week from a Chinese ministry overseeing the auto industry to build the ID3 full-electric model with joint-venture partner SAIC. VW already builds the larger ID4 and ID6 models in China.

PSA started mass production of the Citroen brand’s new flagship model, the C5 X, at a plant it operates with Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group.

VW’s EV partnership with JAC started construction last month on a new assembly plant in the eastern city of Hefei.

Despite high operational costs, battery swapping has gained traction in China with the participation of a diverse range of domestic companies. 

When the tight supply of semiconductors started to dent auto production in China late last year, it was generally seen as a temporary problem. Now nearly six months into 2021, the threat posed by chronic chip shortages to the Chinese auto industry looms large. 

China’s new-vehicle sales continued to grow in April on demand for sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses but the chip shortage looms over the second quarter.