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Chinese carmaker signs contract for US bus fleet

A US transit agency took a major step toward building the first electric transit fleet in the country on Thursday by signing a contract for 85 electric buses with Chinese electric carmaker BYD Motors.

"It is a great victory, not only for the US but also for China," said Marvin Christ, chairman of the board of directors of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority.

"We are changing the entire world, as far as going from diesel to electric buses, with the economic and environmental benefits it has," he said.

BYD Motors, a global leader in developing electric vehicles based in Guangdong province in South China, will build the electric buses for AVTA at its manufacturing facility in Lancaster, California.

"This contract has boosted our confidence," said Wang Chuanfu, BYD chairman and CEO. "Many, including AVTA, had doubts about us when our products first entered the US market two years ago. The two years have proved that their doubt was unnecessary."

With the new electric bus fleet, AVTA is expecting to save more than $46 million in operational costs compared to a diesel bus fleet.

Chery reaches deal to develop aircraft engine

Chinese auto maker Chery Automobile Co said on Thursday it has signed a deal to develop an aircraft engine for Austria's Austro Engine and China's CETC Wuhu Diamond Aircraft Engine.

The engine will replace Austro Engine's current model on light aircraft DA40 and Da42 made by Austria's Diamond Aircraft and its Chinese partner, CETC Wuhu Diamond Aircraft, said Jin Gebo, Chery's assistant general manager.

The main parts will be produced in Chery's factories in Wuhu, Anhui province, where it is headquartered, and the engines will also be assembled there, said Jin.

As a major automaker in China, Chery has developed and produced more than 20 car engines.

It has exported more than 300,000 engines to customers in countries including the United States, Italy and Japan.

Chery sold 550,100 vehicles last year, up 8.3 percent year on year. It remained the country's largest auto exporter for the 13th consecutive year with sales of 87,000 vehicles.

Toyota pulls SUVs over potential seat belt hazard

Toyota said on Thursday it is recalling nearly 2.87 million sport utility vehicles, including more than 1.1 million in the United States, because of seat belts that could fail in a crash.

The recall covers RAV4 SUVS from the 2005 through 2014 model years, the RAV4 electric vehicle from 2012 through 2014 sold in North America, and the Vanguard sold in Japan from 2005-2016, the Japanese automaker said.

Toyota said it is possible the belts in both second-row window seats could come in contact with a metal seat cushion frame in a severe frontal crash.

If that happens, the belts could be cut and would not restrain passengers.

The company said it would add plastic covers to the metal frame at no cost to customers.

The recall also affects 625,000 vehicles in Europe, 434,000 vehicles in China and 177,000 in Japan.

Acura recalls vehicles for faulty airbag safety risk

Acura, the high-end sub-brand of Honda, will recall 12,019 of its imported vehicles in China from July 31, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said last week.

The affected models are the TL, RL, RDX, ILX and ZDX manufactured between Dec 21, 2005 and March 31, 2015.

The carmaker said those vehicles have safety hazards as there is a chance that faulty airbags on the driver's side may contain broken pieces coming out with the deployment of the airbags.

Motoring -Agencies

(China Daily 02/22/2016 page18)