Manufacturing

Geely Holding Group, one of China's biggest private carmakers, said on Friday it has acquired Australian automatic transmission supplier Drivetrain Systems International (DSI), to boost its capability in automobile parts technologies.

The Zhejiang-based carmaker will introduce DSI's products and technologies in the domestic automobile market and help DSI look for low-cost parts sourcing opportunities in China, Geely said in a statement.

The deal would also provide funds to the ailing Australian company's development and research on new products to maintain its leading position in the global market.

Geely will retain the DSI brand and its independence to ensure services to global clients, the statement said.

However, the company did not disclose any financial figures and details about the transaction.

DSI, with more than 80 years of history, was OEM (original equipment manufacture) supplier for leading automakers like Ford, Chrysler and Ssangyong Motor. It has an annual capacity of 180,000 automatic transmission systems.

China's auto sales hit a monthly record of 1.11 million vehicles in March, exceeding US sales for the third month in a row, as tax cuts and rebates for small car purchases lured buyers back into showrooms, according to industry figures.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said sales rose 5 percent in March from a year earlier, when sales totaled 1.06 million, Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

The data confirmed earlier, partial industry estimates suggesting sales remained robust in the Chinese mainland, the world's second biggest auto market, despite deteriorating conditions in most major markets.

Americans bought 857,735 new vehicles in March, down 37 percent from the 1.36 million sold in the same month a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.

But a 25 percent jump in US sales from February has raised hopes that the worst may be over for an industry battered by global economic malaise and financial catastrophe.

China is bound to eventually overtake the US as the world's largest auto market, and recent developments have accelerated that trend.

Based on the figure reported Thursday, first quarter sales in China totaled roughly 2.67 million units.

Despite a slowdown late last year, China's market remains relatively resilient, thanks in part to aggressive government moves to promote sales of smaller, fuel efficient vehicles, especially in the countryside.

Regardless of its miseries back home, General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that it sold 137,004 vehicles in China in March, up 24.6 percent from a year earlier. Its minivehicle joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling, saw sales surge 38 percent to 90,784 vehicles.

Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group, attributed the strong showing to the company's wide product lineup, and forecast that the company will double its sales, to more than 2 million a year, by 2014.

"This is an ambitious target, but we have all the key fundamentals in place," Wale told a gathering of local reporters, noting that GM plans to launch or upgrade more than 30 models in China over those five years.

Trucks and buses make up a larger share of China's sales than those of the United States or Japan. Some observers say that makes direct comparisons misleading. But many rural Chinese do use such commercial vehicles for everyday family driving.

The larger sales figures for China also obscure the fact that most of China's dozens of automakers are small manufacturers serving mainly regional markets.

Meanwhile, they face ever intensifying competition from foreign automakers that are zeroing in on the China market for lack of strong alternatives elsewhere.

"If China is the biggest market or the US is the biggest market, it doesn't matter," said Ulrich Walker, chairman & CEO for Daimler Northeast Asia.

But such indicators are crucial to marketing strategies, he said.

"You have to know which is the biggest market because you have to tailor your products to fit," Walker said Wednesday as Daimler launched its Smart minicar in China, one of a slew of models due to debut in China before and during the April 20-28 Shanghai auto show.

This odd 52 seat bus developed and manufactured by Hunan University and Hunan Tongxin industrial co. ltd., becomes the focus of industrial fair hold in Changsha city. This rhombus, powered by a diesel engine, has a lozenge chasis and a smaller turning radius.

In China, Chery always gains a lot of eyeballs, it's very common to get the spyshots of its models online. this time I will show you some spyshots of Chery's S18 model with details. This model will be available in auto market after QQme in Augest.

The 3D logo and its bodywork tell us this one on photo is the final version of S18.

The "smile face" design makes it much more sweet than its brother Chery QQ.

This model continues the streamlined design: elliptical front lamp, drop-style rear lamp, cute rear mirror and alloy rim.

This set of spyshot are taken outside of S18, but we still can tell the materials and styles used in side!

S18 is a little bit bigger than QQ3, so it have more room to put extra appliances in, e.g. 3-point reverse senser.

This is the model designed to compete with Geely Panda and BYD F0, I hope Chery can do something with it.