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Automotive report focuses on NEVs

The 2018 Report on the Automotive Industry in China, which was released on Oct 10 in Beijing, offering insights into the new energy vehicle segment in the world's largest vehicle market, industry insiders said. They said the annual report has a special focus on the segment after the government stops its subsidies by the end of 2020, and explores the opportunities for fuel cell cars. The report was compiled by the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Society of Automotive Engineers of China and Volkswagen Group China.

First for Tunisia car production

In an industrial park in Sousse province in eastern Tunisia, a car with the logo of Chinese automaker Geely drove slowly out of the production line on Friday, becoming the first assembled passenger car in Tunisia. "The first assembled car in Tunisia was a Chinese brand, an exemplary cooperation between Tunisian and Chinese companies," Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin said at the ceremony. Under a deal between Geely and Tunisian Zouari group, a total of 2,000 Geely "model GC6" cars will be assembled in one year.

Independent US body asks for huge recall

An independent auto safety organization in the United States on Friday called on Hyundai and Kia to recall some 2.9 million vehicles because of the potential for non-collision fires. The Center for Auto Safety, a non-profit consumer advocacy agency, said there had been more than 220 consumer complaints regarding non-collision fires in these vehicles submitted to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Center for Auto Safety combined.

South Korea sales go into reverse gear

South Korea's car export, production and local sales posted a double-digit fall last month on the back of less business days caused by the Chuseok holiday, the South Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, a government report showed Friday. Automobile production declined 18.2 percent year-on-year to 291,971 units in September, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Car exports shrank 18.4 percent to 183,964 units, while auto sales in the domestic market tumbled 17.3 percent to 127,753 vehicles.

VW's chief issues warning on targets

Setting European Union targets for reducing cars' greenhouse gas output that are too ambitious could backfire with the loss of 100,000 jobs, Volkswagen chief executive Herbert Diess said Thursday. If ministers aimed to slash carbon dioxide output by 40 percent between 2020 and 2030, "around a quarter of the jobs in our factories would have to go in the space of 10 years - a total of 100,000 posts," Diess told daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

British producer acts at its Solihull plant

Britain's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will close its Solihull plant for two weeks later this month, after it reported a nearly 50 percent fall in sales to China as import duties and a trade war with the United States hurt demand. China's automobile sales have been falling in recent months, with a slowing economy and trade frictions making consumers cautious about spending, an industry body said last month."As part of the company's continued strategy for profitable growth, Jaguar Land Rover is focused on achieving operational efficiencies and will align supply to reflect fluctuating demand globally as required," a spokesman said in a statement.

(China Daily 10/15/2018 page19)