Short torque

Ford to recall 2015 Mustang 2.3L from July

Ford has announced the recall of the 2015 edition of the imported Mustang 2.3L from July 10.

The affected cars, of which 965 units were sold on the Chinese mainland, were manufactured between Feb 14, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015, according to China's quality watchdog.

The move is due to issues with fuel tanks or pipes that are likely to cause oil leaks and possibly fires.

Shanghai mandates vehicle charging posts

Shanghai has announced that 10 percent of parking lots in newly built residential communities should be equipped with charging posts from July.

The city vowed to increase the number of charging posts in public and residential areas and said car dealers should help buyers equip related facilities.

Statistics indicate that there are 20,000 electric cars with registered license plates in Shanghai, with 60 percent belonging to private users.

The city is short of charging facilities. Statistics show Shanghai has 7,496 charging posts, of which 4,285 are for private use.

Continental, Huayu to build Chongqing plant

Automotive supplier Continental announced last week that it has partnered with Huayu Automotive Systems Co Ltd to establish a new plant in Chongqing.

Named the Continental Huayu Brake Systems (Chongqing) Co Ltd, the new plant will be located in Yufu Industrial Park in the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area. The plant will cover an area of more than 80,000 square meters with investment of over 600 million yuan ($96.75 million) for the first phase.

The new plant is expected to start production in 2016, and to hire more than 600 employees.

Ministry drafts new car sales regulations

The Ministry of Commerce has drafted new regulations on the car sales market's construction and management.

The draft is open for public feedback, according to the ministry.

The stringent regulations stipulate design, construction, environment, public facilities, safety and staff management.

Court finds officials faked license quotas

The Shanghai intermediate court announced it has found some officials from the municipal taxation bureau faked documents and stamps to gain quotas for the limited car plates in the city, for more than 10 years.

From January 2005 to March 2014, the officials misappropriated 5,000 quotas and sold them to black market traders, making 220 million yuan in illegal income.

The officials allegedly found flaws in management between the bureau and the car management administration, in particular the management of suburban car plates.

The government has not yet announced whether the illegal car plates will be withdrawn.

Joint venture to import cars in Nansha FTZ

Guangzhou Port Group and Dalian Jingang Group have announced they will jointly start a parallel car import service in the Nansha Free Trade Zone, in Nansha district, Guangzhou.

The two groups will set up joint venture companies to operate in the FTZ.

They announced they would import 10,000 cars next year.

Amid sluggish sales of import cars in China, the two companies said they would learn from the experience of dealers in the Shenzhen FTZ, who outstripped their competitors in the Shanghai FTZ during the first half of this year.

They will also cooperate with 4S shops to guarantee car maintenance.

Motorinig

(China Daily 06/15/2015 page19)