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Daimler, Tsinghua sign research agreement

Daimler and Tsinghua University signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen bilateral cooperation in researching sustainable transportation last Monday. In the next three years, the Tsinghua-Daimler Joint Research Center for Sustainable Transportation will invest millions of yuan annually to research automated driving and intelligent transportation. The joint research center, established in 2012, integrates Daimler's innovation strength with Tsinghua's scientific research capability.

Audi, Huawei team up to develop tech

Audi has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese information and telecommunications corporation Huawei, aimed at developing its intelligent connected vehicles. The cooperation between Audi and Huawei is intended to facilitate the ongoing advancement of automated driving and the digitalization of in-car services. Working in cooperation with Huawei, Audi became the first foreign carmaker to participate in the first-time deployment of an LTE-Vehicle on public roads in China in 2017.

Startup launches wheel-rim-sharing

Chinese startup Beijing Fengyang Technology Co unveiled a program called Gululu on Friday to share wheel rims in the world's largest car market. Tian Juequan, general manager of Fengyang, said the platform will allow individuals to replace rims made for different road conditions any time they want. Its target customers include taxi companies that can replace steel rims pre-installed on their cars for aluminum ones, for better fuel economy. Tian said there is great potential for rims in the market and one of Gululu's greatest advantages lies in that its partner Shuangwang Group produces and recycles rims and tires.

Geely reports soaring net profits in H1

Geely Auto Group has announced that its net profit in the first half of 2018 has seen substantial growth of more than 50 percent compared to the same period in 2017. According to Gasgoo, Geely Auto generated a net profit of 4.3 billion yuan ($642 million) in the first half of 2017. Geely sold 766,630 vehicles during the first six months of 2018, with year-on-year growth of 44 percent.

Tesla raises all model prices on higher tariffs

Tesla has raised the prices for all its models sold in the Chinese market after China raised import tariffs on United States vehicles from 15 percent to 40 percent. The SUV Model X has the biggest increase in price, increasing from 1.31 million yuan ($234,278.87) to 1.57 million yuan. According to analysts, the overall rise in price will have an unfavorable impact on Tesla's sales in China. At the same time, it gives domestic medium-and high-end new energy vehicle manufacturers an edge.

US jobs safe despite BMW China expansion

BMW says it still plans to add 1,000 workers in South Carolina in the United States, even as the company starts production of new vehicles in China. Spokesman Ken Sparks told the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg in the US that BMW's new electric iX3 SUV will be produced only in China, and that won't affect production of the new X7 model in South Carolina. The South Carolina plant exports more than two-thirds of the 400,000 vehicles it has produced annually, mostly to China.

(China Daily 07/16/2018 page19)