Short Torque

Electric vehicles soak up holiday travel rush

Cities in northern China's Hebei province saw robust growth in electric vehicle travel during the week long Spring Festival holiday. The State Grid Hebei Electric Power supplied 391,600 kWh of electricity for electric vehicles during the holiday in six cities including Shijiazhuang, Baoding and Hengshui, more than tenfold compared with the same period in 2017, the company announced on Wednesday. A total of 37,563 new energy vehicles were introduced in Hebei last year, including private cars, buses and taxis, data from Hebei's industry and information technology department showed.

Nissan profit woe hits Renault earnings

French automaker Renault unveiled a sharp drop in earnings on Thursday as profit plunged at its Japanese partner Nissan. It poses a fresh challenge for their alliance after the shock arrest of former chief Carlos Ghosn in November. The results came as Renault's new chairman Jean-Dominique Senard was in Japan for talks with Nissan, hoping to smooth relations which strained under Ghosn's leadership. Renault's net profit for 2018 fell 37 percent from a record 5.1 billion euros ($6.49 billion) in the previous year, reflecting a slump in profits at Nissan, in which Renault holds a 43 percent stake.

Ford may pull out of UK over Brexit

Ford Motor told British Prime Minister Theresa May that it may have to move some production out of Britain because of Brexit during a conference call on Tuesday, according to a source. Ford told May it may have to use alternatives sites outside Britain, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They were just making clear that they have other options. This isn't the only one," the source said. The London Times newspaper earlier reported that Ford told May it was stepping up preparations to move production out of Britain. Ford is the top-selling automotive brand in Britain, which is its third-largest market and the destination for roughly one in three cars made at its plant in Cologne, Germany.

China and US stay out of brakes scheme

Forty countries led by Japan and the European Union - but not the US or China - have agreed to equip new cars and light commercial vehicles with automated braking systems as soon as next year, a UN agency said on Tuesday. The regulation will require all vehicles sold to have the technology which monitors how close a pedestrian or object is. The system can trigger the brakes if a collision is deemed imminent and the driver doesn't respond in time. The measure will apply to vehicles at "low speeds": 60 kilometers per hour (42 mph) or less and only affects new cars sold in the markets of signatory countries. Owners won't be required to retrofit their cars and trucks on the roads today.

Massive drop in imported car sales

Imported car sales in South Korea posted a double-digit fall in the first month of this year, industry data showed on Friday. The number of imported vehicles sold here was 18,198 in January, down 13.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. It was attributed to weak seasonality and a lack of supply of some foreign luxury brands. German carmaker Mercedes-Benz ranked first in terms of vehicle sales, with 5,796 units sold here in January. It was down 22.8 percent compared with the same month of last year. BMW came in second place by selling 2,726 vehicles last month, but it was down 49.6 percent from a year ago.

Motoring - Agencies

(China Daily 02/18/2019 page18)