About the History of Cars in China
Today in CBTTF: Shuguang Auto, a brand under the Shuguang Group. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s Shuguang Auto made a series of fairly typical five-door SUVs, but they also made one far more special 3-door variant.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Shuguang Auto”
In the great year of 2003 BYD bought Qinchuan Auto, which got them a car-making license and the BYD Flyer, a popular mini car. BYD saw all kinds of possibilities with the Flyer platform. On the 2004 Beijing Auto Show BYD unveiled four concepts of new Flyer variants, designed and built in less than a year. No small feat for a then brand new auto maker!
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2004 BYD Flyer Variants”
In the late 1990’s the Beijing-Jeep joint venture wanted a sedan to compete with the Audi 100. They choose the Chrysler LeBaron, and it came very close to production. But in the end, it just didn’t happen.
Continue reading “Beijing-Jeep Almost Made The Third-generation Chrysler LeBaron”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™): Jiuma, a brand under Shanghai Jinma Automobile Corporation. From the mid-1990’s until the mid 00’s the company made a series of interesting vehicles with lots of parts from the Volkswagen bin, some with Volvo design elements. Besides those, Shanghai Jinma also made a range of odd Suzuki Alto-copy cars.
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Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™): Yemingzhu, a brand owned by Chendu Tiuanju Automobile, a company based in the great city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province in China. In the late 1980’s and 1990’s they made some interesting cars.
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The history of the Flyer is long and very typical for the Chinese automotive industry in the 1990’s and 2000’s. It was small four-door hatchback originally made by Xi’an Qinchuan Automobile, based in the great city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province. Later on, it would become BYD’s first car.
Continue reading “This History Of The Flyer – From Qinchuan Alto To BYD”
Last year I wrote wrote a story (updated with many new pics) about the murky times after Nanjing Auto bought the MG brand. It was unclear what Nanjing bought exactly. This uncertainty was mainly caused by Honda, which owned or co-owned several MG-Rover platforms and designs.
Early after the purchase Nanjing Auto showed several new MG’s. One of these cars was the MG5 sedan, which was unveiled on the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. But there was another ‘Chinese’ MG5. A hatchback model was discovered by reader Max Xiao in Anting Motor City in Shanghai. Thank you very much for the pictures!
Continue reading “Nanjing Auto Made Another MG5 Concept Car”
Today in China Concept Cars the BYD ET, seen here on the BYD booth on the 2004 Beijing Auto Show. The ET was an electric concept car, imagining a future compact family MPV.
Today in China Concept Cars (CCC) the Changfeng Liebao C1, an extreme SUV concept that debuted on the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show. And amazingly, this concept actually made it into production!
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2005 Changfeng Liebao C1”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Yungang Motor, a brand under the Datong Automobile Factory. Yungang Motor made a series of SUVs, several minivans, a bus, and two cars under the CCPDoG.
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