China 2008 auto sales growth slows to eight percent: state media

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Ailing SKorean automaker halts production
Ailing South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor, which is seeking court receivership to avoid bankruptcy, said Tuesday it has suspended production because of a lack of parts. Operations at the company's only plant at Pyeongtak, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Seoul, will stop indefinitely, the Chinese-owned firm said. A Ssangyong spokeswoman told AFP the supply of auto parts would likely resume only after a local court gives a final ruling on the firm's application for protection from creditors. The Seoul Central District Court on Monday froze Ssangyong's debts and obligations and banned asset sales, saying it would decide within one month whether to accept its request for receivership. For months South Korea's smallest automaker had been pleading with its parent, China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), for a cash injection to help it cope with dwindling sales. Unions said Monday they were suspending strike plans and were willing to discuss a turnaround plan. Shanghai Automotive acquired Ssangyong in 2004. Ssangyong's outstanding bank loans are estimated at 300 billion won (225 million dollars). Ssangyong has fallen into financial crisis amid slow auto sales and a dearth of operating funds from its parent firm. The company expects to post a net loss of more than 100 billion won (76 million dollars) for last year.

by Staff Writers
Shanghai (AFP) Jan 12, 2009
Sales of vehicles in China rose about eight percent to 9.4 million units in 2008, less than half the growth rate for the previous year, state media reported Monday, citing an industry group.

Demand for vehicles has been hit by the global economic slowdown, and the outlook for 2009 remains gloomy, the People's Daily reported, citing Hu Maoyuan, chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The sales growth rate for 2008 followed an expansion of 21.8 percent in 2007 over the previous year, according to earlier reports.

"In 2008, China's automobile market has slowed down its pace amid the global financial crisis," Hu, who is also chairman of China's top auto maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, was quoted as saying.

"It is foreseeable that China's auto market will remain in a cyclical downturn trend in 2009. We hope things would get better in the second half," he said.

For the first 11 months of the year, vehicle sales rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 8.6 million units. In November alone, auto sales fell 14.6 percent year on year.

State media has reported China will announce stimulus measures in the first quarter to keep its slowing auto sector growing at about 10 percent annually during the global economic slowdown.

Ford China joint venture sales down 5.9 percent
US automaker Ford Motor Co. said Monday sales at its passenger vehicle joint venture in China fell 5.9 percent to 204,344 in 2008.

The American automaker sold a total of 306,306 units in China last year, including those produced by its Changan Ford Mazda Automobile joint venture, the company said in a statement.

"Despite the current challenges of the market, we remain committed to continually building the efficiency of our business," Ford Motor China Chief Executive Robert Graziano said in a statement.

It was not possible to compare the figure with previous years when the company included the Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover brands in its sales figures.

Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover last year and is reportedly seeking to sell Volvo.

The carmaker also included, for the first time, commercial vehicles produced by its Jiangling Motors Corporation in its overall China sales figure.

Jiangling sales accounted for 95,171 units in Ford's 2008 China sales figure.

Vehicle sales in China rose about 6.7 percent to 9.4 million units in 2008, less than half the growth rate for the previous year, state media reported Monday, citing China Association of Automobile Manufacturers figures.

The global economic slowdown has hit Chinese demand for vehicles and the outlook for 2009 remains gloomy, the association forecast.

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Toyota to introduce electric car to US by 2012

Detroit, Michigan (AFP) Jan 10, 2009
Toyota Motor said Saturday it plans to launch an electric car in the United States by 2012 and boost its gas-electric hybrid offerings to as many as ten models in the early years of the next decade.

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