Motors Tracker

Chinese healthcare service firm Evergrande Health Industry Group is proposing to change its name to China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group as it sees its main line of business shifting to the electric vehicle sector, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today. The company, which is a unit of one of China’s largest property developers Evergrande Group, is developing its NEV business at full throttle and aims to become the world’s largest and most powerful green energy car company within the next three to five years, the Guangzhou-based firm said. The proposal still needs to be approved by shareholders and the Registrar of Companies in the Hong Kong, it added. Evergrande Health’s heavy investment in its NEV business,   which is still in the development stage, led to losses of CNY4.95 billion (USD707 million) last year on revenue of CNY5.64 billion. Fixed assets and equipment still need to be purchased and research and development costs remain high, it said in an...

The joint venture between SAIC Motor and German auto giant Volkswagen Group will soon start to produce Audi-branded cars. “Volkswagen and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC Motor plan to invest CNY4.13 billion (USD590 million) to revamp their car plants in Shanghai to make new Audi sedans,” according to a Reuters report published today that cited a government document. The SAIC-Audi project is proceeding as planned, online news outlet The Paper reported, citing Audi China, the wholly owned unit of German luxury carmaker Audi, and SAIC Volkswagen, the joint venture between Audi’s parent firm Volkswagen and SAIC. The matter is sensitive. Volkswagen’s China-made Audi vehicles are mainly produced by another JV, Changchun, Jilin province-based FAW Volkswagen, which is not in favor of the deal. When the SAIC-Audi project was first broached in November 2016, it was met by a storm of criticism and had to be shelved. SAIC Volkswagen so far only produces the Volkwagen and Skoda marques. It w...

Changan Automobiles sold 38 percent more vehicles at 194,400 units in June from a year ago, the Chongqing-based firm said in a statement yesterday, mostly spurred by its self-developed brands. In the first half, its sales climbed 1.3 percent from a year earlier amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It looks like Changan could use the win as the company has been suffering from a sales slump for three consecutive years, causing foreign partners Suzuki and Groupe PSA to withdraw from its JVs. Consequently, the Chinese firm's shares have fared poorly in the past couple of years. But things started looking up in the third quarter of last year as sales improved with the main driver of transformation being Changan-branded vehicles with better profit margins. Last month, the manufacturer's self-owned brands grew in popularity as sales rose 39 percent to 146,600 units from a year ago. Sales of joint venture Changan Ford Automobile climbed 37 percent to 22,100 units and Changan Mazda Automobile so...