China News: Brilliance BS6 1.8T 170Hp

The Brilliance BS6 or, if you live in China, the Zhonghua Sedan, has been enhanced with the addition of a new turbocharged version, the 1.8T. The BS6 / Zhonghua 1.8T is equipped with the same 1.8-liter 4cylinder turbocharged engine that's on the BS4 1.8T (Jinjue in China) delivering an output of 170Hp @ 5.000 rmp and a maximum torque of 235Nm available from 2.000 to 4.000 rpm. Apart from the engine, the Pininfarina designed (and Lancia inspired...) BS6 has also received some visual upgrades like the 'sporty' bumpers and a new set of alloy rims. -Continued











Via: cn.autoblog.com & Zhonghua

Technorati: Brilliance+BS6, Zhonghua, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop, blogs, 2007, pictures, images

Brilliance BC3 – 1.8T 170Hp Chinese Coupe makes its Euro premier in Geneva

We’ve already seen Brilliance at other European car shows announcing that they’re coming to Europe, but this time, the Chinese car manufacture really means it as they’ve signed an import agreement for Europe with German motor trading company, HSO Motors Europe. Along with the BS6 and the BS4 which are based on the Giugiaro designed, M1 & & M2 sedans respectively, Brilliance will also import to Europe the BC3 Coupe you see in the pictures.

The BC3, which looks like a reworked Hyundai Coupe - Tiburon, is equipped with a Mitsubishi derived, 1.8-liter turbocharged engine delivering 170Hp. According to the Chinese company, the BC3 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 10,0 sec and it reaches a maximum speed of 210 km/h – 131 mph. Key dimensions length 4.488mm, width 1.812mm, height 1.385mm & wheelbase 2.600mm. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below for additional pictures

Technorati: Brilliance+BC3, China, Geneva+Motor+Show, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, autos, Carscoop, blogs, images, pictures, 2007

Official: Chrsyler Group approves small-car agreement with Chinese, Chery Motors

Theoretically and for the time being, the Chrysler Group is up for sale but that doesn’t mean that the Group has halted all its future projects. Today DaimlerChrysler announced that its Supervisory Board approved the framework of a limited partnership to develop small vehicles between the Chrysler Group and Chinese Chery Motor Company. Although this agreement has to be approved by the “almighty” Chinese government, consider it a done deal with the final paper work to be signed by the end of March.

According to DC, under the non-equity partnership, the Chery-built vehicles will be distributed under Chrysler brands, primarily in North America and Western Europe. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below to see the press release

PRESS RELEASE: Auburn Hills, Mich./Stuttgart, Germany - The DaimlerChrysler Supervisory Board today approved the framework of a limited partnership to develop small vehicles between the Chrysler Group and Chery Motor Company of China. The deal is still contingent upon approval by the Chinese government, but the final pact of the framework is expected to be signed by the end of March. Under the non-equity partnership, Chery-built vehicles will be distributed under Chrysler brands, primarily in North America and Western Europe.

Chrysler Group indicated that the partnership would allow the company to become a bigger player on the global automotive stage by giving it access to products in new segments more quickly, with less capital spending.

Small vehicles such as these will allow Chrysler Group brands to compete in segments in which the brands do not currently compete, and which are especially important in price- and fuel-economy sensitive markets. Some 67 percent of all vehicles sold outside of North America are in these segments. Chrysler Group's major competitors in the U.S. and Western Europe have similar arrangements with Asian manufacturers for vehicles in these segments.

Technorati: DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler+Group, China, Chery+Motors, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, autos, Carscoop, blogs, images, pictures, 2007

DR3 & DR5: Toyota RAV4 copycat made in China, assembled in Italy using Fiat engine!

Wow, it can’t get weirder than this or can it… From the initial facts that we’ve got in our hands, the 3door DR3 and its 5door equivalent, the DR5 that made their world premier at the Bologna Motor Show in Italy are the works of Massimo Di Risio, an ex-pilot who now is a car distributor in Insernia.

There’s no doubt about it that their interior and exterior design (ok, the front part looks like a Suzuki Grand Vitara) are inspired –to say the least, by the previous generation Toyota RAV4. As if that wasn’t enough listen to this: the car’s body which is made in China is shipped over to Italy where it’s assembled on a platform using Fiat’s 120 Hp 1.9 Turbodiesel engine!

The press release tells us that the DR3 has a length of 3.850 mm with a wheelbase of 2.280 while the larger 5door DR5 rides on a 2.510mm wheelbase and is 4.285 mm long. 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) comes in 12,4 sec while top speed is 174km/h –DR say’s both versions have the same performance figures (…).

According to the info we managed to translate from DR, the 3door and 5door versions of the Chinese/Italian SUV will go on sale in March with prices starting from about 16.000 euros! We’ll try to learn more about the DR3 and DR5 SUV’s and post them up as soon as possible.

Technorati: DR3, DR5, Chinese+Cars, China, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, autos, Carscoop, images, pictures, Bologna+Motor+Show

Chinese Cadillac clone - Maple Marindo 506

We have already seen a bunch of them: Smart Fortwo, Fiat Panda, Scion xA & xB, Ferrari P38 and God knows how many other Chinese clones so what would stop them from cloning a Caddy? The answer is nothing! Ha, Ha!

The elegantly named... Maple Marindo 506 is a “Caddilzed” Citroen ZX sedan! Guess they read their history when it came to choosing the body host as Cadillac was named after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan in 1701. Looks like what goes around comes around for Cadillac. If you can recall the Euro-only, Cadillac BLS, is practically a Saab 9-3 Sedan in disguise!

Hey, here’s an idea, Cadillac should team up with the Chinese and make a sales pitch to the European market enticing them with a cheaper and smaller version of the BLS aimed at the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 fans… Via: Autoblog.it

Technorati: Maple+Marindo+506, China, Cadillac, car+clones, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, images, pictures, Carscoop

Geely Fengyin - Auto China 2006 Concept

Holly Geelymobile! Bet you Bruce Wayne would just love hopping into this one and going for a spin in traffic prone Gotham-Wang City. Fortunately, for Mr. Wayne, aka Batman, this is just a concept put in place by Chinese car company Geely. Word has it that the ‘Fengyin’ (hey maybe this could be Mr. Penguin’s ride!) will be shown at the Auto China 2006 car show that runs from the 21st to the 27th of November in Beijing.

Technorati: Geely+Fengyin, China+cars, Auto+China+2006, autos, Batmobile, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, images, pictures, Carscoop

Chinese Smart Fortwo Copycat gets the boot

EH EH EH – Not so Fast! Looks like Chinese automaker Shandong Huoyun stopped production of their two-person electric car, aka the Smart ForTwo copycat, due to complaints from DaimlerChrysler -wonder why... According to Automotivenews, “doody hit the fan” when a big mouth manager referred to the new vehicle as the Smart car in a magazine interview.

So how on earth did Shandong Huoyun conjure up the same design to make their copycat Smart car. Well, the Chinese say that they used a toy model purchased via the internet! To avoid hurt feeling with the German carmaker and lawsuits galore for that matter, Shandong Huoyun will reconfigure the car shortening it by 7.9 inches and by changing the doors, rear end and cargo capacity. Via: Automotivenews

Technorati: Smart+Fortwo, HuoYun, Electromobile, China, Germany, green+cars, ecology, electric+cars, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles

GreatWalls of Copycat Part 2: More on the Chinese Fiat/Nissan & Scion/Toyota clones

We just got our hands on a new set of photos concerning Great Wall's Europan and Japanese clones. Starting off with the Fiat Panda clone, it looks like the Chinese automaker's designers (now that's a good one..), took the body of the Italian minicar and dressed it with a few bits and parts from Nissan's Note mini-MPV.

And since they got the recipe right with the Panda clone they decided to do the same with the Scion xA knock off by giving it a Toyota Yaris face job! We must admit though that did their best to stay as close as possible to the original model when it came to the CoolB AR which is "based" on the Scion xB. And we were wondering what the heck were all those Chinese 'journalists' doing with their papers and stencils stuck on every single car during the Paris Show media days...

Technorati: Greatwall, Scion+xA, Scion+xB, copy, clones, Toyota+Yaris, Fiat+Panda, Nissan+Note, Greatwall+CoolB+AR, China, scoop, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop