Short Torque

Beijing Automotive: Annual revenue grew 2.2 percent in 2018

China's leading automaker Beijing Automotive Group Co announced Thursday that it had sold more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2018. Despite a bumpy 2018 for China's overall auto market, Beijing Automotive achieved annual revenue of 480.7 billion yuan ($71 billion) and a profit of 30.1 billion yuan, up 2.2 percent and 7.3 percent year-on-year respectively. Beijing Electric Vehicle Co, the electric car-making arm of BAIC, reported total sales of 158,000 units last year, an increase of 53 percent over the previous year. Although China's auto sales dropped in 2018, the sales of new energy vehicles soared by 61.74 percent year-on-year to 1.26 million units, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Google spinoff picks Michigan as site for autonomous car plant

Google's self-driving car spinoff Waymo said Tuesday that it will bring a factory to Michigan, creating up to 400 jobs at what it describes as the world's first plant "100 percent" dedicated to the mass production of autonomous vehicles. The company plans to spend about $13.6 million to retrofit a to-be-determined manufacturing facility in the Detroit area. In exchange, it will get a state incentive grant worth up to $8 million that was approved Tuesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund Board. Waymo spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said the company plans to hire up to 400 people to work at the factory, including engineers, operations experts and fleet coordinators.

Chinese, US automakers discuss two-way trade at ongoing Detroit show

Chinese and US automakers were eager to seek opportunities in two-way automobile trade at the North American International Auto Show, also known as the Detroit Auto Show. This is the fifth time the Chinese Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor has attended the auto show. The company is working to get its vehicles ready for the US market and plans to begin sales in the first half of 2020. In 2013, when GAC Motor attended the show for the first time, it rented a small space outside the main exhibition hall with only two cars on display. Now, the automaker based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, in Guangdong province, has announced that it will become the first Chinese automaker to sell Chinese-branded vehicles in the United States.

BYD finances expansion through green bond sale totaling 1 billion yuan

Chinese leading electric vehicle maker BYD is issuing 1 billion yuan ($148 million) green bonds to finance its business expansion. The fund will be used to finance its green industry projects, including new energy vehicle factories, parts and battery plants and its monorail business, the Shenzhen-based company said Thursday. The projects will have very good social and economic benefits, it said. Half of the funding will go to a lithium battery plant in Qinghai province and two parts plants in the cities of Shanwei and Wuhan, it said. The other half will be used to supplement its working capital, BYD said.

Zhejiang province to establish world-class automotive sector

East China's Zhejiang province is seeking to build a world-class automotive industry cluster by 2022 when its auto production is expected to exceed 3.5 million units. New energy vehicle production is expected to reach over 800,000 units by 2022, according to a four-year action plan on the quality development of Zhejiang's auto industry. In 2022, the industrial output of Zhejiang's auto industry is expected to reach 1 trillion yuan ($148 billion), with 400 billion yuan from the auto makers and 600 billion yuan from the parts suppliers, according to the plan. The province will focus on four major automotive platforms, one in Hangzhou, two in Ningbo and one in Taizhou, with more efforts to develop new energy vehicle facilities and global research and development headquarters, it said.

Motoring - Agencies

(China Daily 01/28/2019 page19)