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>> Sino signs
If there's a downturn in the auto industry, China's manufacturers don't seem too worried. And nor are Sino showgoers...
Perhaps with the exception of supercar central Genf, recent motor shows elsewhere have struggled to hide the economic gloom, but the Shanghai show attracted more exhibitors and required more floor space than ever before.
The likes of Porsche (more here) and Benz (more here) chose the event to debut their latest, but China's burgeoning domestic makers stole the show in terms of the number of new models.
Chery's exhibition was large and long-winded, and featured multicoloured zebras and footage of wild animals from Africa.
We're not quite sure what the connection is between small cars and the savanna, but as we were trying to work it out, a little silver blimp (about a third of the size of Holden's version at the Melbourne motor show a few years back) made its teetering flight path across the crowd in an attempt to prove Chery's new green drive. Last we heard, helium was relatively rare and an asphyxiant...
The BYD (for Build Your Dreams. Ha!) lineup was unusual for its blend of conservative and crazy. The company's stand included ho-hum small and midsize models but the highlight was a convertible, dubbed the S8, which resembles an old CLK Merc at one end, and Chrysler Sebring at the other (pictured).
And if you thought Land Rover couldn't get anymore po-faced, try BYD's fusion of the Discovery and Honda Odyssey in the E6 crossover (pictured with model in short, red dress). Then there's the brand's unique bonnet emblems, which look like headless angels...
Disappointingly, the Chinese manufacturers seem to have lost their imagination when it comes to model names.
Previously we've chuckled at Geely's (rather ugly) Beauty Leopard, Jiangling's Landwind and Great Wall Motor's Florid (far from it), Wingle and Coolbear models... Is it the case that in fear of ongoing jibes the domestic makers have turned to nondescript, protracted acronyms like Dongfeng's EQ7240BP?
That's meant to conjure desire for a Coupe, by the way.
Stranger still is that the Chinese makers keep getting away with blatant copies and the use of names otherwise reserved for heavyweights such as BMW. We counted at least two different X1 models...
To be fair, technically not all of them are copies. The Zoyte Multiplan, for example, is all-but identical to the Fiat Multipla, but the plans for the van went to the Chinese maker after the break-up of the Nanjing Fiat company in 2007.
Haima had several Mazda-looking models, including the new 2 and 3, and even the old tall-boy 2. Haima is a subsidiary of China's FAW (First Automobile Works) and is based on Hainan Island, and the company's name is in fact derived from the nouns HAInan Island and MAzda, so nothing ulterior there... Better still; the Haima models significantly undercut the price of the Mazda-badged cars.
The Hawtai brand, with its badge and name resembling that successful South Korean maker, displayed a Sonataesque sedan and even a Terracan-type SUV. Funnily enough, the Chinese outfit's stand was next to Kia's.
And while on joint ventures, dare we say Changfeng Motors does an even better-looking, if slightly scary, version of the Mitsubishi Lancer with its Acumen model.
Same can't be said for Lifan's MINI rip-offs, which look even more of a hangover to baby boomer nostalgia than the 'real' versions. [Ed: so harsh... We love the idea of a cross between a new MINI and an original Morris 1100... Retch...]
Trans-Tasman
Haven't we paid enough? Have we not done our penance watching repeats of 'Motorway Patrol' or hearing once more that "New Zealand IS Middle Earth".
The Kiwis obviously haven't forgiven us yet for a mock advertising campaign to launch an attack on New Zealand last year or that underarm bowling incident from the late 1970s. How else would you explain the pre-emptive 'strike' from the east -- slavishly reproduced in a News Ltd organ from an AAP feed?
The article was published last week and -- in a nut-shell -- quoted a New Zealand publisher who claimed that the Australian automotive manufacturing industry was doomed, Holden would be the first to go and the government should stop supporting the industry in favour of paying retrenched workers unemployment benefits instead.
Is it too unkind to suggest the publisher was confusing the Australian automotive scene with his own country's from the past?
There's little that Aussies appreciate less than barracking from the sidelines and so the publication of the article (which was carried by relatively few media outlets in this country) raised some predictable ire. Holden -- the company specifically named by the publisher and one that operates as an importer and former assembler in New Zealand -- reacted vehemently to the assertions with a strong but measured response from "a company spokesperson".
Let's not even deign to dignify the publisher and his comments. What strikes us as noteworthy is the nature of Holden's response. We tend to think of PR and corporate communications people as utterly unflappable and well versed in handling any difficult situation with service and a smile. Holden's response in this instance is like the Admirable Crichton giving you a wedgy!
We reproduce Holden's statement here:
What gives one person the right to call 'time' on an entire industry with more than 60,000 jobs at stake? What data is he basing his views on when happily sounding the death knell for Australian car makers and employees?
We've never had a request from this individual to speak with our executives, to discuss our company business plans or review the business case for our new fuel efficient four-cylinder small car.
This is shameless self-promotion at the expense of our industry, our organisation and our employees.
For the record, Holden has had the best selling car in the country for 13 consecutive years and we're not going anywhere. We're in there fighting in a pretty tough global environment and we won't be discouraged by bystanders.
Just resting
Speaking of Holden, the manufacturer 'rested' white collar staff over the Easter break. But Fishermans Bend is not alone in bringing forward leave and public holidays. Ford will close down on Monday for Anzac Day, despite that day falling on a Saturday.
All of this is just standard operating procedure for companies facing a glut of production capacity and insufficient demand. But what to make of the country's largest automotive magazine publisher not only taking an extended ‘all-out you're taking holidays or else' break over Easter, but allowing its premier title to post a notice on the website informing readers that nobody was at home?
Audi, BMW execs laid low with terminal attack of the Benz
Don't let anybody tell you Germans are cold, clinical numbers men. Sure, the E-Class is one of Benz's most important cars, but is that the real reason why they put up this monster billboard outside Terminal Two at Munich Airport?
With endearing warmth, the text reads: "Willkommen zu Hause. Die neue E-Klasse." ('Welcome home. The new E-Class.')
It wouldn't have anything to do with Benz knowing every Audi and BMW executive, engineer, designer and manager had to walk towards it every time they got on a plane, would it?
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