General Motors crashed Chevrolet down in Europe. A good thing? On paper yes, in practice no. In December 2013, General Motors announced it would kill the Chevrolet brand in Europe to concentrate on ailing Opel and its UK sister brand Vauxhall. A reshuffling of priorities that made sense given Opel racked up…
The GAC Trumpchi GS5 features in the Hollywood blockbuster 'Transformers - Age of Extinction' * See the Top 76 All-models and Top 43 All-brands rankings by clicking on the title! * This is Part 5 of my special Strategy Series on Chinese manufacturers at home. You can check out previous…
Dongfeng Xiaokang V27 I will resume shortly my Strategy Series "How can Chinese brands unlock their home market?", but first a piece of information that could have a big impact on Chinese manufacturers in the near future. According to Autonews China, last month President Xi Jinping's leadership team announced a plan to…
DS 5LS On June 1, PSAPeugeot Citroen appointed the first ever CEO for the premium DS brand: Yves Bonnefont, PSA's former director of group strategy. DS is already a stand-alone brand in China and set to become the same in Europe as well, tasking Bonnefont with elevating it from a tiny-but-successful…
The 1940 Bantam BRC40 is one of the ancestors of the Jeep. While Jeep had never before in its 73-year history topped 60,000 US sales in a month, it delivered an out-of-this world 70,203 in May, passing Kia, teasing Hyundai which also broke its all-time record this month, doubling Volkswagen…
Chinese carmakers are starting to make big waves in the MPV segment (Beijing Auto Weiwang M20) NOW UPDATED with MPV analysis. This is Part 4 of my special Strategy series about Chinese manufacturers at home. Check out Part 1 (introduction and Medium & Heavy Trucks), Part 2 (Small, Medium & Large Buses…
Great Wall Wingle This is Part 3 of my special Strategy series about Chinese manufacturers at home. You can check out Part 1 (introduction and Medium & Heavy Trucks) here, Part 2 (Small, Medium & Large Buses and Light Trucks) here and Part 4 (Commercial Vehicles summary and MPVs) here. We are exploring the…
Yutong School Buses This is part 2 of my special Strategy series about how Chinese carmakers can achieve a better market share in their home market. You can check out Part 1 (introduction and Medium & Heavy Trucks) here, Part 3 (Pick-ups, Mini Trucks and Minivans) here and Part 4 (Commercial Vehicles summary…
Shanghai Englon SC7 in Ürürmqi, Xinjiang Uyghur - April 2014 This is Part 1 of my special Strategy series on Chinese manufacturers at home. You can also check out Part 2 (Medium & Large Buses, Small Buses and Light Trucks), Part 3 (Pick-ups, Mini Trucks and Minivans) and Part 4 (Commercial Vehicles summary…
The Qoros 3 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last April. * This is Part 5 of 5 in my series on Chinese carmakers abroad. See also Part 1 (Africa), Part 2 (Latin America), Part 3 (Eastern Europe) and Part 4 (Asia) * The first 4 Parts in this series have shown Chinese manufacturers securing the…
The Wuling Hongguang launched this month in India as the Chevrolet Enjoy. * This is Part 4 of 5 in my series on Chinese carmakers abroad. See also Part 1 (Africa), Part 2 (Latin America), Part 3 (Eastern Europe) and Part 5 (Mature markets) * In the first 3 parts of this series we observed that…
TagAz has been manufacturing the Chery Tiggo in Russia - rebranded Vortex Tingo. * This is Part 3 of 5 in my series on Chinese carmakers abroad. See also Part 1 (Africa), Part 2 (Latin America), Part 4 (Asia) and Part 5 (Mature markets) * As illustrated in Africa and Latin America, Chinese manufacturers have been working extra-hard…
Brazilian Chery QQ * This is Part 2 of 5 in my series on Chinese carmakers abroad. See also Part 1 (Africa), Part 3 (Eastern Europe), Part 4 (Asia) and Part 5 (Mature markets) * If Chinese carmakers have started exporting to Africa in the early 00′s, they set foot in Latin America even earlier, with JAC starting…
The Datsun Go starts at US$5,340. Only in India is such low pricing possible at the moment. Staying in India for a couple of days has enabled me to get a much better understanding of the Indian new car market and its dynamics which have very unique characteristics. In fact,…
DS5 LS. The DS brand is separate from Citroen in China. * Check out Part One of this Special Report on French manufacturers here * This is Part 2 of my special feature on the future of French manufacturers. You can see Part 1 here. After evaluating both French manufacturers…