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BMW Brilliance releases sustainability report

BMW Brilliance Automotive released its sustainable development report on Wednesday, showing its overall fuel consumption has reduced to 7.06 liter every 100 kilometers for each vehicle, the lowest among all 88 local carmakers checked by Chinese government bodies.

Anton Heiss, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance, said, "The company joined the United Nations Global Compact in 2014 as the first joint venture participant in China, and set a benchmark for the sector as it is the only carmaker in China following the GRI G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines."

The automaker's carbon dioxide emissions were also lowered by 11.8 percent to an annual average of 0.97 tons per vehicle, and its Tiexi plant in Liaoning province reduced its use of water by 65 percent and recycled all of its waste water. Olaf Kastner, president and CEO of BMW China, said BMW's "smart factory" detects possible issues in the production line and makes adjustments while it's running, so as to lower the number of defective products and reduce the wastes.

The Tiexi plant was designed as a green plant from its inception to fully utilize resources and minimize waste and emissions.

"We applied innovations in technologies and techniques to tackle the challenges and drive our sustainable development," Kastner said.

Aston Martin's future plans focus on Chinese market

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin is planning to roll out an electric car and a crossover in the next few years. Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's CEO, said the electric car, called RapidE, will make its debut around 2018. It will be "almost exclusively made" for the Chinese market as China is the trendsetter in this aspect, Palmer said. He called the electric car project a "truly Chinese" one as the investor is China Equity and the country's Internet company Letv will help with the information system. The carmaker also plans to launch a crossover called DBX in around 2019, adding that the crossover or SUV segment is an important part of the brand's Second Century Plan. Palmer said the crossover's primary market needs are from the Chinese market. He said details will be taken into consideration to make the cars fit for the Chinese customers. "The whole car industry always starts by designing a car with 99 percent for Americans or Germans. What the whole industry forgets is we also have Asian clients, especially Asian women."

Tesla recalls Model S for safety belt problems

US electric carmaker Tesla is recalling 7,166 Model S cars on the Chinese mainland, according to China's top quality watchdog. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the recall was made as safety belts in some of the cars made between May 1, 2012, and Nov 12, 2015, may have not been properly installed. Tesla said it will send notices to Model S owners on the mainland and check and solve any problems free of charge.

Motoring

(China Daily 12/14/2015 page18)