NAC MG TF Pricing Announced – More Expensive Than an MX-5!

Chinese carmaker NAC MG has announced UK pricing for its British built TF LE500. The mid-engined, rwd roadster that's due to arrive in dealerships across Britain this September has been priced at 16,399 GBP (that's $32,700 or EUR 20,600 with the current exchange rates). For that money you get a 136Hp 1.8-liter engine and several standard amenities like air-condition, ABS, leather seats, windstop, 16-inch alloy wheels, a body colored hardtop, parking sensors and a Pioneer MP3 compatible CD / radio.

But we ask; more than 16,000 pounds for a car that's practically a facelifted version of the original MG TF that was introduced in 1995? That's a lot for a car that was already outdated compared to its rivals when it went out of production in 2005, let alone in 2008. For example, prices for the Mazda MX-5 1.8 start from 15,750 pounds while you can get a nicely equipped MX-5 1.8 Icon for 16,825 pounds. We drove the last TF130 back in 2005, and while the MG had its fun side, even then, it showed its age in more ways than one.

Volkswagen Lavida: Chinese Mid-Size Sedan Coming to Beijing Auto Show

A teaser shot of Shanghai Volkswagen’s forthcoming Chinese built and designed mid-size sedan that will debut at the Beijing auto show in April emerged on the internet today. While we can’t vouch for its authenticity, if real, it looks like VW’s new sedan that will be named “Lavida” is heavily based on the latest generation Skoda Octavia. Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between the German carmaker Volkswagen and Chinese Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), which has also formed a separate venture with General Motors.

Via: es.autoblog.com

Volkswagen Lavida: Chinese Mid-Size Sedan Coming to Beijing Auto Show

A teaser shot of Shanghai Volkswagen’s forthcoming Chinese built and designed mid-size sedan that will debut at the Beijing auto show in April emerged on the internet today. While we can’t vouch for its authenticity, if real, it looks like VW’s new sedan that will be named “Lavida” is heavily based on the latest generation Skoda Octavia. Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between the German carmaker Volkswagen and Chinese Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), which has also formed a separate venture with General Motors.

Via: es.autoblog.com

Volkswagen Lavida: Chinese Mid-Size Sedan Coming to Beijing Auto Show

A teaser shot of Shanghai Volkswagen’s forthcoming Chinese built and designed mid-size sedan that will debut at the Beijing auto show in April emerged on the internet today. While we can’t vouch for its authenticity, if real, it looks like VW’s new sedan that will be named “Lavida” is heavily based on the latest generation Skoda Octavia. Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between the German carmaker Volkswagen and Chinese Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), which has also formed a separate venture with General Motors.

Via: es.autoblog.com

Volkswagen Lavida: Chinese Mid-Size Sedan Coming to Beijing Auto Show

A teaser shot of Shanghai Volkswagen’s forthcoming Chinese built and designed mid-size sedan that will debut at the Beijing auto show in April emerged on the internet today. While we can’t vouch for its authenticity, if real, it looks like VW’s new sedan that will be named “Lavida” is heavily based on the latest generation Skoda Octavia. Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between the German carmaker Volkswagen and Chinese Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), which has also formed a separate venture with General Motors.

Via: es.autoblog.com

SAIC Motors Buys 50.3% Stake In Shanghai Diesel Engine Co.

Hot on its heels from the purchase of domestic rival car maker Nanjing Auto –see here, SAIC Motors today announced that it has agreed to pay 923 million yuan ($127 million) to Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd in order to acquire a 50.32 percent slice of Shanghai Diesel Engine Co.

"The purchase will enable SAIC to develop its own engines and complete products with well-established core spare parts," said SAIC in a statement that it issued. "It will lift our company’s competitiveness in the commercial vehicle segment." -Continued after the jump

The Chinese Group has announced that it plans to produce 600,000 units annually of its own brand of vehicles by 2010, a number that includes 200,000 passenger cars and 400,000 commercial cars. SAIC’s overall plan is to reach an annual production of 2 million units, for both passenger and commercial vehicles, by then. Most of the vehicles produced by SAIC today are made in collaboration with its joint ventures (GM and Volkswagen AG), and all those cars carry the foreign partners' brand nameplates.

SAIC Motors Buys 50.3% Stake In Shanghai Diesel Engine Co.

Hot on its heels from the purchase of domestic rival car maker Nanjing Auto –see here, SAIC Motors today announced that it has agreed to pay 923 million yuan ($127 million) to Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd in order to acquire a 50.32 percent slice of Shanghai Diesel Engine Co.

"The purchase will enable SAIC to develop its own engines and complete products with well-established core spare parts," said SAIC in a statement that it issued. "It will lift our company’s competitiveness in the commercial vehicle segment." -Continued after the jump

The Chinese Group has announced that it plans to produce 600,000 units annually of its own brand of vehicles by 2010, a number that includes 200,000 passenger cars and 400,000 commercial cars. SAIC’s overall plan is to reach an annual production of 2 million units, for both passenger and commercial vehicles, by then. Most of the vehicles produced by SAIC today are made in collaboration with its joint ventures (GM and Volkswagen AG), and all those cars carry the foreign partners' brand nameplates.

China: Shanghai Automotive Buys Nanjing Auto

State-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) has come to an agreement with Yuejin Motor Group (also state-owned…) to buy its Nanjing Automobile’s auto-assembly and component-making businesses. The deal, which is valued at 2.1 billion Yuan or approximately $286 million, will set Shanghai as one of the biggest players in China’s booming auto-industry. According to reports, the combined sales of Shanghai and Nanjing will surpass the 2 million units mark by 2010.

Of course a deal like this wouldn’t have been carried out without the consent of the all-mighty Chinese government who wants to see more mergers in China's fragmented passenger car market which kinda reminds the US and European car industry in the first half of the 20th century when there where like 50 or more independent car makers. -Continued

Interestingly, Nanjing Automobile owns MG Rover assets along with the right to the brand MG, while Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) obtained design rights for two Rover models including the 75 which it sells under the name Roewe.

China: Shanghai Automotive Buys Nanjing Auto

State-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) has come to an agreement with Yuejin Motor Group (also state-owned…) to buy its Nanjing Automobile’s auto-assembly and component-making businesses. The deal, which is valued at 2.1 billion Yuan or approximately $286 million, will set Shanghai as one of the biggest players in China’s booming auto-industry. According to reports, the combined sales of Shanghai and Nanjing will surpass the 2 million units mark by 2010.

Of course a deal like this wouldn’t have been carried out without the consent of the all-mighty Chinese government who wants to see more mergers in China's fragmented passenger car market which kinda reminds the US and European car industry in the first half of the 20th century when there where like 50 or more independent car makers. -Continued

Interestingly, Nanjing Automobile owns MG Rover assets along with the right to the brand MG, while Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) obtained design rights for two Rover models including the 75 which it sells under the name Roewe.